


Aliens at Bromfield Hall

by ghettooutlaw, LaCorelli



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Genre: Affair at Bromfield Hall with bonus alien action, Amanda King is aware of more things than Lee Stetson, F/M, Gen, Mostly canonical relationships, Playing with UNIT dating controversy, Set between Vampires in Venice and Amy's Choice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 07:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 43,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22880092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghettooutlaw/pseuds/ghettooutlaw, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaCorelli/pseuds/LaCorelli
Summary: At Bromfield Hall Amanda King juggles foiling international espionage with Lee Stetson with helping the Doctor, Amy, and Rory find an alien spaceship, making this adventure truly an affair to remember.
Relationships: Amanda King/Lee Stetson (pre-relationship), Amy Pond/Rory Williams
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter I

**Author's Note:**

> This is a collaboration between LaCorelli and Ghetto Outlaw, originally published on FFN back in 2012 back when it was still the 11th Doctor, Rory, and Amy (basically written around the time of season 6 though it takes place during season 5 of the new series).
> 
> Rory Williams and Amanda King are two of the most patient people in the universe. They both put up with a lot from the people they eventually marry. And while they both seem to be average ordinary people; they are so much more. We just thought it would be interesting if they met, and at a time when neither of them are too sure of what the future will bring. Also, for the most part, Rory's POV sections were written by Ghetto Outlaw and Amanda's by LaCorelli. 
> 
> Now for the specific timeline for when this takes place in both universes:
> 
> For Doctor Who this takes place immediately after "Vampires in Venice". And because we're in the 1980s we have a few old school Who touches, including a couple of classic characters making cameo appearances. 
> 
> For Scarecrow & Mrs. King it blatantly takes place during the second season episode, "Affair at Bromfield Hall" written by Juanita Bartlett, with a few things just changed and stretched enough to fit in our crossover. Also, we decided to stick with the broadcast order of episodes for season 2, despite the fact it makes Lee look like he's having major attitude swings between episodes. While we originally wanted to try to fit our crossover completely between scenes from the episode, we felt this worked better. Anyway, we're already AU enough with this crossover that a little alteration of the timing and events of the episode should be the least of our worries.

"This is not my fault," Amanda said plaintively, looking out the car window.

"I never said it was your fault," Lee replied, tersely.

"You're sure acting like it is." Amanda folded her arms. "You didn't have to come. I told Lord Bromfield you were a busy man."

"I _am_ a busy man, but I couldn't exactly turn down the undersecretary of the Foreign Office. Especially not after he made such a big deal about whether I cared about your reput— I mean, he really insisted on us both. Look, the sooner we deal with this, the sooner I can get back to what I'm actually supposed to be doing."

Amanda's eyes moved from the window to Lee. "I'm sorry you're having to..."

" _Amanda_ ," Lee said with that inflection that only he could manage, "It's like you said, it's not your fault. It's just that only you could trip your way into a sex scandal."

Amanda sighed and went back to looking out the window. She was starting to think she was cursed. First getting arrested in Germany, now this. And Lee wasn't making it any easier. She could never figure him out. It hadn't been that long ago that he'd called her his partner. Now she was back to just being part of his cover. Well, it could be worse; she could be dealing with— no, don't think about it. She hadn't had to deal with that kind of problem since before she'd joined the Agency. Spies were easier, even if the lies were not.

* * *

The Doctor and Rory followed Amy back into the TARDIS, leaving the strangely hushed Venice behind. Rory felt vaguely unsettled. At least Amy didn't want to cancel the wedding entirely. That was good, wasn't it? Hopeful? She'd asked him to stay. Of course, he couldn't say no. He'd never been able to say no to her in his life. 

"Why don't you show Rory around? At least the critical bits," the Doctor said to Amy as he went to the controls. "I wouldn't want you two getting lost back there. Had that happen one time; it took ages to get her out of the TARDIS."

"All right, Doctor," Amy said, taking Rory's hand. "You won't believe what's back here, but first I want tea." 

They left the console room. Rory sighed as he looked at what appeared to be a long stretch of corridors with nearly identical doors scattered along the walls. The Doctor was right. It would be too easy to get lost there. Luckily, the kitchen was only a short hop down the corridor. It seemed strangely normal in contrast to the over-the-top character of the console room. While Amy put the kettle on, Rory watched her from just inside the doorway. She looked so at home there. Very comfortable. 

"There's some biscuits in the cupboard over there," Amy said as she got down some mugs.

"Oh, right," Rory said as he walked to where she'd indicated. He brought the tin to the table. A couple of minutes later, Amy handed him a mug of tea. "Thank you. Um, this is nice."

The room suddenly shook. Rory spilled his tea. "Ow, what was that?"

Amy looked around. "I don't know." She grinned. "Let's go find out." She took his hand and led him back to the console room, where a loud beeping sound was coming from the TARDIS console.

"Umm... Doctor... that doesn't sound good," Rory observed.

"No. No, it doesn't," the Doctor mused as he studied a stream of data scrolling across the TARDIS's monitor screen.

"What is it?" Amy asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. It's a generic, broad spectrum signal, compatible with a wide array of communication systems, but I can't make out what it's trying to..." Suddenly, the TARDIS lurched wildly, throwing the Doctor, Amy, and Rory against the console.

"Doctor!" Amy yelled. "What's happening?"

"The transceiver has locked onto the signal!" he shouted over the grinding engines. "She's taking us to the source of the transmission!" His hands raced from one control to another and, after a few moments, he had steadied the TARDIS.

"Where are we going?" Rory asked with feigned calm.

"Definitely Earth, looks like near London," the Doctor said as he checked. "The year? Around 1984. More or less. I'll know in a minute." The TARDIS engines started groaning as it started materializing. "Ah, yes? Definitely 1984. And the place?" He looked at the scanner. "Ah, Bromfield Hall. I think I've been here before— or is it since? Ooh, but the 1980s, this is awkward."

"Why awkward?" Amy demanded.

"Well, you know how certain times in your life can be kind of hard to keep straight? Where you're not sure exactly where you were or what you were doing? That's the 1980s for me and part of the 1970s, for that matter."

"So," Amy said, with a grin, "this is like a drunken night at the pub, hmm. Doctor, what _did_ you get up to?"

The Doctor glared at her. "No, it's just that considering where we are, I'm not sure how likely a meeting with UNIT is, and well, it would be awkward to cross my own timeline. Really awkward. Anyway, we're actually going to need to try to blend in because even though I'm picking up the signal, for some reason it's impossible to pinpoint the exact location. Something is really diffusing it, or the TARDIS is acting up again." The Doctor hit the console then sighed and pulled out some headphones which he plugged into the scanner. "Somehow, this feels like cheating," he said, as he adjusted the knobs and put the headphones on. He closed his eyes for a moment. 

"What are you doing?" Rory asked curiously.

"Oh, just breaking into some high security computers and doing a general scan of intelligence chatter and a check to see what, if anything, is going on at Bromfield Hall in the immediate future.... And we're in luck. At this very moment, above our heads," the Doctor said, "Lord and Lady Bromfield are having a weekend house party. Excellent. We'll be able to mingle and track down the source of the signal. Now you two scoot to the wardrobe and change into something for a garden party."

* * *

Amanda was very relieved to see Bromfield Hall ahead. The silence in the car was starting to get on her nerves, but she couldn't think of a thing to say that wouldn't make things more awkward.

Lee glanced at Amanda. "Listen, I'm probably going to have to head back to London in a little while. I've only got three days left before the meeting begins to find the leak."

"I know, but it won't be right away, will it?" Amanda asked. "I mean, I'm not really comfortable with all this."

"Look, Amanda, you'll be fine. Just be yourself; only..."

"Not too much," Amanda finished. "I think we've had this conversation before." _And it never helps_ , she finished to herself.

"Yeah." Lee sighed and glanced at her for a moment, before continuing in a more reassuring fashion. "Really, you're good with people. Don't worry about it."

Amanda's eyes widened slightly at the compliment, but she decided not to say a thing more, since all too often a compliment from Lee was ruined by whatever qualifiers he'd tack on afterwards, and she wasn't up to dealing with that right now.

Lee brought the car to a stop in front of Bromfield Hall. He looked at Amanda with a smile. "This should be just a quiet weekend in the country. No problem."

They got out of the car, and then Amanda was horrified to see that same photographer snapping pictures— again. She cringed. Lee reacted by chasing the photographer down and fighting him for his camera, eventually yanking the film from it and yelling at him to leave. The photographer left after telling Lee he'd be sorry for what he'd done.

Amanda sighed as she watched this. "Just a quiet weekend in the country," she said. _This is going to be so much worse than I thought._

* * *

Rory didn't like this, not one bit. All his life he'd been Amy's dress up doll, and now here he was doing it again. She hadn't even shown him the courtesy of letting him pick out the wrong outfit and putting him through the "are you really going to wear that" routine.

_At least this time I'm not being dressed up as the Doctor_ , he thought as he checked himself in the full length mirror. Rory adjusted his tie and smoothed down the sleeves of his suit, the one Amy had selected.

"Amy?!" he called out. The only reply was his own voice reverberating back off the cavernous walls. Amy had called this the 'wardrobe room' but it was more the size of a warehouse. A veritable sea of clothes racks, some marked _MALE_ , some _FEMALE_ , and a few _OTHER_ , swirled around a spiral staircase that ran floor to ceiling. Catwalks led out from the stairs and onto platforms jutting out from the walls that held vanities, dressers, towering pillars of hats, and still more outfits.

He called to her again, a little louder this time.

"Over here!" Rory turned round just in time to see a pair of red heels descending the stairs. He moved his gaze upward as the rest of her came into view, taking in the long legs that followed. When she reached the bottom, she crossed to him and, with a flourish, twirled round to show off the black skirt and satiny red blouse that graced her slender form. "So, how do I look?" she purred.

"I... uh... you... you look different," Rory stuttered. "You look beautiful. I mean... not that beautiful is different, you always look beautiful... and... I sound ridiculous, don't I?"

Amy adjusted his collar and gave him a wry smile. "Yes, but very sweet."

Their eyes met and lingered, fixed on each other. It seemed like a long time since they had been alone, and there was a lot Rory wanted to ask, like, "why did you leave the night before our wedding, what happened with you and the Doctor, and what's going to happen to us now?" But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Instead he chose to enjoy her smile. "Well," he said, "I suppose sweet is pretty good."

The room's huge double doors swung open with a resonant clang, jarring Rory from his reverie. In strode the Doctor, rubbing his hands together with undisguised enthusiasm. "Look at the two of you!" he exclaimed. "Amy, you look smashing! Great job dressing up Rory, by the way."

"Umm, excuse me. I..." Rory began but was interrupted by Amy.

"Aren't you going to change?"

"No," the Doctor replied with an air of incredulity. "I don't need to change. I have a bow tie."

"Doctor, so far, all you've told us is there's something alien outside the TARDIS, which is kind of absurd since everything in the TARDIS is alien, and that we should dress for a garden party. None of this makes any sense," Rory protested.

"It makes perfect sense. People across the whole of space and time love parties."

"Actually," Amy interjected, "I think what Rory means is: what are we going to do here?"

"Ah, yes, right! Well, I'm going to look around and find out what's got the TARDIS all excited, and the two of you are going to mingle."

"Mingle?" Rory and Amy asked in unison.

"Yes, mingle. You two need some time together. Venice didn't work out quite the way I had hoped. In fact, it was nothing whatsoever like what I hoped. So, here we are! A nice quiet weekend in the country should put everything to right."

Outside the TARDIS was dark. The air was dusty and dry, but it was cool. They took a few blind steps forward before the Doctor softly said, "Wait." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver, turned it on and after a few seconds, a row of overhead lights came to life, revealing they were in a large wine cellar. "Oh my," the Doctor smiled. "This should be an even better party than I thought."

They soon located a set of stairs which led up to a pantry and out into a kitchen. Amy tugged at the Doctor's sleeve. "Where to now?"

"Hmmm..." The Doctor tapped a contemplative finger against his lips. At length, he spun on his heel and strode off, calling for his companions to follow.

The Doctor led the way through a maze of rooms and corridors, stopping occasionally to glean some information from his screwdriver and once to comment on a Ming vase he was sure he once saw in a dressing room at the Palace Theatre in London (which was a truly odd place for it to have been considering its shabby surroundings). After what seemed like a long time, they found themselves in an enormous hallway adorned from one end to the other with antiquated suits of armor, weapons, and tapestries.

Directly across from the marble archway in which they stood was a set of double doors. The Doctor crossed to them and gently placed a hand on one. "Hello there," he half whispered. Behind his back, Rory and Amy exchanged puzzled looks. "These doors are as old as the house itself. In fact, they were a gift to the first Lord of Bromfield when he began building this home," the Doctor said, as if in response to their silent curiosity. "They're three meters tall, made from a single oak tree, and carved entirely by hand."

"Really?" Rory marveled.

"Oh, yes. I spent nearly a year on them."

Without another word, the Doctor pulled them open and they all stepped outside onto a terrace which boasted a spectacular view of the estate. Rory took in the scene that stretched out before him. To his left was a large greenhouse and a set of horse stables. To his right was an ornate stone water fountain next to which was an arrangement of tables bearing all manner of food and beverage. And in the midst of it all people stood about in small groups of three or four while others meandered along stone paved pathways which wound through a flawlessly manicured garden beyond which lay open fields and tracts of woodland. 

When the Doctor said "party," this was not at all what he had in mind. Rory's social comfort level hovered closer to an after work pint with a few mates at Bingham's Pub. Suddenly, a sword fight with a stinky, alien vampire fish didn't seem so daunting. 

"Wow, everyone looks so... elegant," Amy gushed. "I want to meet some people! Where do we start?"

"Let's introduce ourselves to our host," replied the Doctor. "Seeing as how he didn't invite us, it's least we can do."

Rory wanted to share Amy's excitement; he really did. But he couldn't stop thinking how he would rather be just about anywhere other than here right now. Still, he dutifully trailed along behind his fiancée and watched in quiet horror as the Doctor walked right up to a particularly distinguished looking gentleman and grabbed his hand.

"Lord Bromfield!" the Doctor exclaimed. "I'm so delighted to see you again! It really has been far too long. Dr. John Smith, such a common name, probably doesn't stick in the memory at all."

"Nonsense," Bromfield replied good-humoredly. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"And how is her Ladyship? Well, I trust."

"She is quite well. It's very thoughtful of you to ask, Dr. Smith." Lord Bromfield smiled warmly. "I'm gratified you and your friends could join us this weekend."

"We wouldn't have missed it for the world!" There was a fleeting, uneasy silence. "How silly of me!" the Doctor continued. "I don't believe you've met my good friends. Allow me to introduce Amelia Pond and her fiancé... Dr. Rory Williams."

"My pleasure," Lord Bromfield shook their hands in turn. "Will you be joining our assembly this evening?"

"Most definitely," the Doctor assured him.

"Splendid! Now, if you will be so kind as to excuse me, I must attend to a couple of guests who have just arrived. Please enjoy yourselves."

"Oh, we will," Amy said.

Lord Bromfield was hardly out of earshot when Amy asked the Doctor, "You know his Lordship?"

"I recognized his photo from a government database I scanned back in the TARDIS. He's the Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, but today was the first time I ever met the man."

"But... he knew you," Amy said incredulously.

"No he didn't. I was counting on him being far too much of a gentleman to act otherwise. Besides, if you act like you belong, people will believe you belong."

Rory grabbed the Doctor by the arm and spun him around to face him. "Great! We belong! Now would you like to tell me why you told him I was a doctor?! Are you sick? Are you deranged?"

"I thought you might appreciate it."

"Appreciate it?!"

"I _did_ call you a eunuch last time."

"I... you... this..." Rory struggled to find some witty rejoinder, but the Doctor's twisted reasoning was unassailable.

"Rory," Amy interjected diplomatically, "let's just have a good time. We just met an actual lord! Who knows who else is here? Let's go mingle like the Doctor said."

"You go ahead. I want to get something to drink," Rory said flatly. _Preferably something strong._ The thought of meeting anyone else made him feel sick. What he wanted was time to think alone. He placed a hand on Amy's cheek and feigned his most sincere smile. "I'll catch up in a few minutes."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'll be right along." He watched Amy walk off back toward the house. She turned back and gave him a concerned look, but he smiled again and waved her on encouragingly. He waited until she was out of sight before he began exploring the grounds. It didn't take long until he located an isolated bench, mostly concealed by encircling shade trees.

Rory sat himself down, closed his eyes and let the sound of the party fade away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We didn't really have much in the way of notes on our FFN posting, but I thought it might be useful to add a few here. 
> 
> So first, the Doctor's referencing the awkwardness of the 1970s/80s is in reference to the UNIT dating controversy: wherein with the 3rd Doctor the UNIT episodes were set in the near future, and there's a point in "Pyramids of Mars" where Sarah Jane Smith told the 4th Doctor she was from 1980, but then "Mawdryn Undead" messes everything up by having the Brigadier retiring from UNIT in 1976. It's a continuity snarl that the show itself ended up kind of winking and nudging with deliberately smudged and vague references to the past. And that's where we went as well, considering that Scarecrow & Mrs. King was pretty firmly in the early 1980s.


	2. Chapter II

Amanda had a growing sense of unease about the weekend. It was not just the incident with the photographer, but something more vague and undefinable, an unknown quantity that she just couldn't put a name to. Lord Bromfield was gracious as always. She had instinctively liked the great bear of a man when she met him; she just wished it hadn't been linked with something so embarrassing. He was really every bit of the perfect English gentleman. Amanda also wished she could have warmed to Lady Bromfield as easily; somehow it would have made her feel better. As it was, the lady had a cool courtesy that was outwardly gracious, but she seemed too contained, too indifferent. 

Also, the house was incredibly ornate; Amanda had never been somewhere so grand. She supposed that those things could be why she was feeling so overwhelmed, but that just didn't ring true to her. If she didn't know any better, she would swear that there was something... no, no, no— she wasn't going to go there. It was _not_ going to happen again. Life with the Agency was strange enough without bringing on... Distractedly trying to figure out how to behave and hoping that she was just overreacting to the stress of the past couple of days, she barely even heard what her companions were saying as they walked outside.

The gardens were really beautiful, and while admiring them, Amanda found her attention drawn to a young man with a shock of dark hair wearing a tweed jacket and a bow tie, standing with an abstracted air in the middle of the lawn. Briefly, he looked directly at her, and for a moment, when their eyes met, Amanda felt an almost imperceptible jolt of something, not quite recognition but close. Then he turned and moved further away. Amanda had the strongest urge to follow him but instead forced herself to keep moving along. More than ever she wanted to be far away from Bromfield Hall, and she also knew she couldn't tell Lee a darn thing about why. A knot forming in her stomach, Amanda turned her attention back to her companions as they approached a table laden with food and drinks. 

Lady Bromfield spoke in a pleasant enough tone, that somehow sounded to Amanda as brittle as she felt. "Well, let's put it behind us now. Look, we've so looked forward to having you here."

An older woman who had been standing by the table turned at Lady Bromfield's last words. "Nonsense," she said with ill-disguised glee. "You've been as nervous as a kitten. I, however, have been beside m'self with anticipation. Oh, Ralph, introduce me to your friend."

" _Our_ friend, Margery," Lady Bromfield corrected gently.

The old woman was not to be moved. "How can that be, Gwyneth? You've never seen her before in your life."

Lord Bromfield sighed and said, "Mrs. King, an old and very trying friend of the family— Lady Witherspoon."

 _Is this how everybody is going to be this whole weekend? Between this and... whatever else, I think I've walked into one of my worst nightmares,_ Amanda thought. She forced herself to respond politely. "How do you do?"

Lady Witherspoon gushed at her. "Oh, you're much prettier than your photograph. But that's usually the way, isn't it? I've refused to have mine taken for the past twenty years."

"Yes, well," Lord Bromfield said, "we didn't have the luxury of a refusal."

Lady Witherspoon was not taking any hints. "Now go away, Ralph. I want to hear all about your affair from this young lady."

Oh, this was just painful. _I thought the aristocracy was supposed to be well-mannered._ Amanda turned to Lee. "Do something," she whispered.

"What?" he whispered back.

The old woman just kept going. "Now, don't tell me you're going to deny it."

Lord Bromfield broke in with more than a touch of exasperation. "There is no affair, as you know perfectly well. The entire incident was contrived. Probably to discredit me."

"I simply went to see the morris dancers," Amanda added. _Please drop this. It was just an innocent misunderstanding._

"And I received a telephone call from the Hall saying that Gwyneth wanted to see me there. Of course, she knew nothing about it," Lord Bromfield finished.

"Well, I don't know why you're protesting so, Ralph," Lady Witherspoon said. "This scandal's made you interesting for the first time in years."

Lady Bromfield, apparently trying to defuse the uncomfortable situation, addressed Amanda, "Would you care to meet some of our other guests?"

"Thank you," Amanda said, while fervently hoping that the rest of the guests weren't like Lady Witherspoon, who still wasn't taking any hints.

"Put her in the green room, Gwyneth," she said. "It's close to mine, and we can have a chat later."

 _Oh dear_. Amanda said, desperately, "Lovely. Yes. Excuse us, please." As they walked away Amanda felt compelled to say. "Lady Bromfield, I hope you know that your husband and I didn't have an affair."

The other woman replied very placidly. "Oh, Mrs. King, my husband and I have been married for twelve years. Our relationship is based on mutual trust." She stopped by two gentlemen, both dark-haired, one taller than the other. Lady Bromfield started by introducing the shorter of the two men, who was wearing a tweed jacket, vest, and a bow tie, which reminded her slightly of the mysterious stranger. _Who was he? He seemed familiar; it wasn't so much the look as the feeling. Never mind._ Amanda focused back on the introductions. "Geoffrey, I'd like you to meet Mrs. King and Mr. Stetson. Our very dear friend, Geoffrey Douglas-Wood."

Lee and Amanda exchanged greetings with him. Amanda was starting to feel that she was getting oversensitive, maybe getting a bit crazy. She was a friendly person; she liked people, and yet, she instinctively distrusted Geoffrey Douglas-Wood, and she didn't feel much better about the man he was standing next to. _I've got to pull myself together_ , she thought, _this is getting ridiculous._ Then Lady Bromfield introduced the other gentleman, wearing a casual jacket and a blue shirt, as Errol Pridemore.

Pridemore gave Lee a rather significant look as he said, "AnaCord Electronics, isn't it?"

"Yes," Lee said looking surprised. 

"Yes, I believe we've met." They shook hands.

Lee took a moment before replying, "Oh, yes. Good to see you again."

Amanda wondered at the exchange. Had they met or not? Did he know Lee was Agency or had Lee met him using the AnaCord cover? Oh, it was so frustrating, not knowing about the job. When would Lee learn to confide in her? Probably about the same time she'd become a full agent. In other words, never.

Lady Bromfield looked back and said, "Oh, I see some more guests are arriving. I do hope you don't mind me leaving you for the moment. I'm sure Geoffrey or Errol wouldn't mind showing you around."

"Oh, let me," Pridemore put in swiftly.

"Sure," Lee said slowly. 

Lady Bromfield and Geoffrey moved off in opposite directions.

Pridemore led the way across the lawn but stopped when they were some distance away from any one else. "Mr. Stetson, if you've got a moment. There's a small matter about AnaCord..." He glanced questioningly at Amanda.

"It's all right," Lee broke in.

The other man smiled in relief. "Oh, yes. Yes, of course. If Mrs. King is with you, she must be Agency too."

"Mr. Pridemore here is MI5," Lee explained.

"We didn't have an opportunity for more than introductions at the office," Pridemore continued. "Tragic, this business about poor Ransome."

This was the first time Amanda had heard the name. "Excuse me. What business about poor Ransome?" 

"Ransome was an MI5 agent that I was working with," Lee said. "They found him on the Thames embankment, murdered."

"You didn't tell me that anyone had been murdered," Amanda said, trying to control her frustration and nervousness.

"You didn't ask," Lee replied as if it was her responsibility to ask how dangerous an assignment could be.

"No," Amanda said evenly. _So that's something else I should add to the list of things I need to ask if I need to know. Honestly, I don't think Lee understands what "need to know" actually means. On the other hand, I'm not telling him anything I suspect. But then again, I_ don't _know anything, and he always gets so sarcastic when I talk about intuition._

Pridemore looked at them both silently a moment before turning back to Amanda. "Well, Mrs. King, I must say, I was surprised to see you here after that nasty business in the newspapers."

"You saw it, too?" Amanda asked with a cringe. 

Lee didn't help by saying, "Everybody saw it, Amanda."

Amanda nodded miserably. _Why did I think that this was going to work?_ She sighed. _Because Lord Bromfield and Lee thought it was a good idea and I wanted my name cleared. This is so impossible._

Pridemore seemed to realize that he was being tactless. "In any event, if you need my help, I shall be here for the whole weekend. I can't say why. Gwyneth despises me. But there you are. Oh, and don't worry too much about that business in the newspapers. That sort of thing has a way of blowing over."

"Oh-ho. No," Amanda said, unconvincingly. "It doesn't bother me."

"Look, Amanda," Lee said. "There's a couple of things I'd like to discuss with our colleague here. Why don't you go off and mingle and have fun? I'll join you in a bit."

Amanda gave him a hurt look before nodding and heading off further away from the crowds. "Mingle. Have fun. He always says that, and he never means it," she mumbled to herself. _I hate mingling. And right now I don't want to try to have conversations with strangers who most likely think I'm having a... thing with my host._

Looking around, Amanda headed toward what looked like a shaded garden area; maybe there would be somewhere to sit out of the way for a few minutes at least. She really needed to brace herself to face all these people. She turned the corner and almost ran into a young man sitting on a bench.

Taking a few steps back in surprise, Amanda said, "Oh, excuse me."

"Oh, excuse _me_ ," Rory answered reflexively. Amanda turned to walk off but Rory rose and took a step toward her. "If... uh... if you're looking for a quiet place," he motioned to the now empty bench. "I should be getting back to the party." His gaze fell to the ground. "Or rather I should actually join the party."

Amanda smiled slightly. "I guess you're as uncomfortable here as I am."

Rory laughed uneasily but not without some relief. "I didn't think it was that obvious. At least I'm not the only one." He extended a hand. "I... I'm Rory, Rory Williams."

She took his hand. "Amanda King. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you. Please excuse me for asking, but you're American aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah, I'm from Arlington, Virginia. That's near Washington, D.C. This is my second trip to England. I really wish my boys could see it. I have two: Philip, he's eleven and Jamie, he's nine. Though considering what happened, I'm kind of glad they're not with me this time. I'd hate to have to explain it to them. I mean it was just an innocent misunderstanding," Amanda paused for breath. "I'm sorry; I'm rambling, I do that when I get nervous. Not that you're making me nervous, I don't mean that. Um, what brings you here?"

"Actually," Rory looked about as if a perfect answer would materialize much like the TARDIS, "I... I... I'm here with a friend, a couple of friends, well, my fiancée and a friend. I think he's a friend, but I'm still not entirely sure. And I'm sorry I'm kind of rambling myself. What did you mean by 'innocent misunderstanding'?"

Amanda looked at him for a moment and then smiled hopefully. "You mean you don't know about it? Lee said everybody saw it, and well, that seemed highly improbable. It just seems like they have, and it's been really very uncomfortable. So you don't know about it? Really?"

"Umm... I really don't know what you're talking about. I've been out of the country." _Way out._ "I just got back today."

"Oh." Amanda looked a little disappointed. "I guess that's why. It's just that the reason I'm here is because, well— it's really embarrassing and so silly— I was going to see the morris dancers, and I met Lord Bromfield, and he was really nice and polite, but somehow a photographer took a picture that made it look like we were... I don't know... and everyone seems to think we're... um... well, and I'm here with my p... boss to try to look like a friend of the family, but if the people I've met so far— I mean other than you— are any indication, they're all going to think I'm a... I don't know... just because I'm divorced doesn't mean I'm... I'm not... and thank goodness, I don't have to explain this to my family, but I admit it's nice to meet someone who hadn't read the story or seen the picture. This is going to be a long weekend, and my boss is already irritated with me because this is cutting into his work time, and he doesn't even understand why this is upsetting me. And I'm sorry, I'm doing it again." Amanda stopped and took a breath before changing the subject. "What was it you were saying about your fiancée and the friend that you're not sure is a friend?"

"Well, it's... strange. I just met this... man a couple of days ago but it's like he's been around my whole life. When Amy and I were growing up, she drew hundreds of pictures of him, she made dolls that look like him, she even made me dress up like him." Rory thought that it might seem strange opening up the way he was to a person he'd just met but there was something about Amanda, something he couldn't quite define, that made it feel perfectly natural to tell her anything, everything. "Then she took off with him the night before our wedding, and somehow I'm along for the ride. I don't know if the Doctor is a friend, but he is to Amy."

Amanda froze for a moment and her mouth fell open slightly. _The Doctor? It couldn't be, could it? But that would explain so much._ When she spoke again, it was slow and cautious. "Um, when you say the Doctor... do you mean... uh... is this... are you talking about a gentleman who... um... never goes anywhere without a... blue box?"

Rory's pulse quickened and his eyes narrowed slightly. He looked around, convincing himself they were really alone, then took a step closer. "You... know the Doctor?"

"Not personally. I know about him from a friend of mine who used to travel with him. A few years ago for her; I don't know how many for him, if what she told me is true. Her name's Sarah Jane Smith; I don't know if you've heard of her. She's a journalist. In fact we met when she was visiting Washington about a year and a half ago, and well, we kind of got involved in something... Doctorish... so to speak... and well, we had a bit of time to kill at one point, and she told me all about her adventures with him. We've kept in touch, and I was hoping we could catch up while I was here, but unfortunately, she's out of the country right now— Italy, I think. She'll hate to have missed seeing the Doctor. I know she'd love to see him again."

"I'm afraid I don't know Sarah Jane Smith, but if you'd like to meet the Doctor, he's around here somewhere."

"Oh my gosh! I wouldn't want to be any trouble. I..."

"It's no trouble," Rory smiled. Suddenly, he didn't feel so out of place. "Come on then, we can go find him together." He offered his arm, which she took with a wonderful smile and they started toward the house. As soon as they rounded the tree, they narrowly avoided colliding with another guest.

"Lee!" Amanda exclaimed.

"There you are Amanda! I've been looking for you," Lee said indignantly.

"Yes, here I am," she said casually.

"What have you been doing?"

"I've been mingling... having fun... just like you told me to," she answered, putting a little bit of an edge in her voice.

"So I see." Lee's voice was low and his gaze was fixed solidly on Rory, a fact not lost on Amanda.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Amanda started. _Please, Lee, don't embarrass me in front of the only person whose company I'm enjoying here_. "I'd like to introduce Rory Williams. Rory, this is my boss, Lee Stetson— um, president of AnaCord Electronics."

The two men shook hands. "Pleased to meet you," Rory said.

"Likewise," Lee responded politely but with an unmistakable air of reservation. "Amanda, I'm finished here for now. I need to head back to London."

"You're leaving already?" Amanda asked.

"Well, yeah. Just for a few hours," Lee said.

"Oh, yes," Amanda said. _Well, he did warn me. And it does give me the chance of meeting the Doctor without him leaning over my shoulder._

An awkward silence settled on the three of them as Lee cast a few quick, expectant looks at Amanda but kept his eyes trained on Rory most of the time.

 _What is he waiting for? Maybe there's something he needs to tell me before he leaves. Maybe I need to go with him._ Amanda turned to Rory. "Um, I should walk back to the car with Mr. Stetson in case there are any last minute details that I need to see to."

"Right then. I suppose I should go find Amy."

"Good-bye, Rory." Amanda turned and started off with Lee but then dashed back to Rory to say, "It was a pleasure to meet you."

"And a pleasure to meet you. Amanda," he lowered his voice, "I hope I didn't get you into any trouble with your boss."

"No, no, of course not."

"It's just that he seems so... agitated," Rory observed.

 _Tell me about it._ "He just has a lot to deal with right now." Amanda looked back over her shoulder before whispering to Rory, "I hope I'll see you later. I'd love to meet Amy and..."

"Amanda, are you coming or not?" Lee broke in impatiently.

Amanda sighed. "Yes, I'm coming," she said. She gave a last wave to Rory and headed back to Lee. 

They started walking across the lawns together. Amanda glanced around trying to subtly figure out which of the people they passed was the Doctor. She felt certain it was the stranger with the bow tie, but she couldn't be positive. She also wondered which of the guests was Amy. Catching sight of Lady Witherspoon, Amanda repressed a shudder. _Maybe I can convince Lee to take me with him_ , she thought. _Much as I'd like to meet the Doctor; it might be better to be away from here. I mean, the Doctor attracts trouble, and we're here on an assignment, and well, this could get complicated. And I still don't know what, if anything, I should say to Lee about that._

"Who was that guy?" Lee asked abruptly, breaking into her reverie.

"Who? You mean Rory?" Amanda asked, startled for the moment. _Keep it simple. Keep it simple. Otherwise, he'll think I'm crazy._

"Yes, Rory. What were you doing with him?" Now that they were alone, Lee wasn't bothering to even try to hide his irritation.

"We were just talking. You're the one who said to mingle," Amanda said. _Ha, I knew he didn't mean it._

"Yeah, mingle with other people, not go off alone somewhere with a strange man."

"I didn't go off with him. I met him at the bench. And he's not a strange man; he's a very nice man, and... we have a couple of friends in common. He came here with his fiancée and a friend of theirs. He was just going to introduce me to them when you showed up. And, you know, he hadn't seen the picture and had no idea about..." Amanda abruptly stopped. She did not want to get back on that topic of conversation, and she didn't want to approach the more insane topic either. "Anyway, he was very nice," she repeated lamely

They were almost out of sight of the rest of the guests, Amanda was still trying to locate the Doctor, or at least the man she thought might be him. Amanda hardly noticed Lee's annoyed looks until he spoke.

"Yeah, very nice for an engaged man flirting with another woman," Lee muttered.

"What?" Amanda asked, not sure what he said. She thought she saw something moving out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked she only caught a glimpse of someone disappearing from sight. _I've got too much on my mind; this isn't good. We're here on a job, and just maybe there's something else going on, that maybe I should or shouldn't mention to Lee. But I don't know, and he isn't supposed to know, or is he? Forget it. And what was it he just said again? Something about flirting? Never mind that either. Work, we should talk about work. Should I ask about his talk with Pridemore? Should I not say anything? He'll get suspicious if I don't talk. What am I supposed to do? Oh, now he's staring at me. Now what?_ "Sorry, just a little distracted. What did you just say?" she asked apologetically.

"It doesn't matter," Lee said, impatiently. "However, if you're trying to get out of a sex scandal, private meetings with engaged men is probably not the way to go."

"Ohh, a sex scandal," Amanda said, embarrassed again and feeling more than a bit annoyed. _Why'd we have to go back to that?_ Again. _And what is wrong with my meeting Rory? He's nice._

"Forget it, okay?" Lee said, apparently sensing he'd pushed her a bit far. "It's not your fault. I mean, nobody who knows you is gonna believe it. You, in the middle of a sex scandal? All you have to do is take one look to know it's ridiculous."

"Why?" Amanda asked. _What do I look like? A hag? An ice maiden? A nobody?_

Lee seemed surprised. "Why what?"

"Why is it ridiculous?" Amanda demanded. _Go ahead, tell me how terribly boring and domestic I am._

"Amanda—" Lee obviously did not get why she was upset.

"Just because it isn't true doesn't make it ridiculous," Amanda continued, irritated. _Come on, no one wants to be told they look too— boring or plain or whatever for anyone. There's a difference between_ won't _and_ can't _, Lee._

"Yeah, why are we having this ridiculous conversation?" Lee asked in disbelief

 _I can't believe you don't get it,_ Amanda thought, but she said, "I think we're having this conversation because you said it was ridiculous that I should—"

They'd reached the car in front of the house. Lee interrupted her impatiently, "All right, all right, all right. You're sleeping with Lord Bromfield. How's that?"

"Heh. Ridiculous," Amanda replied. _But that's not the point._

Lee looked relieved. "That's right. It's ridiculous. So may I go to work now?"

"Sure you don't need me to help?" Amanda asked. _It would probably be safer all round if I left now._

"I'm sure I don't need you," Lee said firmly. "Amanda, look at this. Take a look around you. Hmm? This is hardly your usual day in the country, right? Stay. Relax. Make the most of it."

 _Be reminded that I'm just for show, again. Stay and get interrogated by strangers about a nonexistent affair. Ugh. However, a chance to meet a mysterious alien time traveler— well that's not a bad idea at that._ "You're right," Amanda said, trying to look on the bright side. "It's very beautiful. And it's, uh, big." She looked up at the house. Her attention was suddenly attracted by the sight of an urn starting to fall forward. "Lee!" she shouted, pushing him forward, as she went backwards. He fell against the steps. "Lee, are you all right?" She rushed to his side.

Lee pushed himself up looking around in disbelief. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

Amanda looked at his head. "I'll get a doctor."

"No, no, no. Amanda, I'm fine."

 _No, you're not fine_. "If that thing had hit you, it would've killed you," Amanda said. _There's got to be a proper doctor here._

Lee looked at the pieces lying around him. "Yeah. What the hell is going on around here?" he said, puzzled. "Looks like I'm not going anywhere."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who are familiar with "Affair at Bromfield Hall" it will be obvious that we stretched and altered the timeline a bit in order to fit in the crossover meetings, but I hope it works out.


	3. Chapter III

Rory decided to take the long way around the grounds to look for the Doctor and Amy. He wasn't sure why, but he had the feeling that it would be a good idea to see how the estate was laid out. It probably wouldn't be that hard to find Amy; she'd be the one in the center of the largest group at the party. The Doctor would be the challenge. Probably. At least, he had discovered something useful. Amanda King knew about the Doctor and could probably help find out anything odd. He'd wished he'd gotten more of a chance to talk with her. He wondered what the deal was with her boss; he'd seemed wound up really tight. 

Nobody seemed to be on this side of the house. Rory could see the top of a hedge maze ahead of him. Walking down towards it, Rory spotted the Doctor coming out of the entrance.

"Doctor, I found you," Rory said when he reached him.

"Ah, Rory, why aren't you mingling?" the Doctor asked.

"Actually, I met someone..."

"Then you were mingling," the Doctor interrupted.

"No... yes... I guess so... but that's not the point," Rory said trying to get back to what he wanted to say.

"Oh, but that was exactly the point."

"Yes... maybe... I guess, but the other point is I met someone who knows you or at least about you— Amanda King. She works for the president of AnaCord Electronics— if you've heard of that. She told me that she heard about you from someone named Sarah Jane Smith."

The Doctor's eyes lit up at the mention of the name. "Sarah Jane Smith. Brilliant woman. Investigative journalist. Always getting into trouble," he said, then his expression clouded slightly. "Um, did this Amanda King say if Sarah was around? Because we're not actually due to meet again for a while. I don't think it would result in any universe ending paradoxes, but... uh... it's a bit awkward."

Rory stared at the Doctor for a moment. "Well, Amanda did say she was out of the country right now— maybe Italy."

"Oh, Italy, we had a grand time in there during the Renaissance, well except for that whole Mandragora Helix thing; never did get to meet Leonardo, but you can't have everything," the Doctor said reminiscently. "Don't quite remember what's going on there now, but I'm sure she's in the thick of it."

Rory opened his mouth to say something about _their_ being in the thick of it but was interrupted by Lord Bromfield who was rapidly approaching from the direction of the house.

"Doctor! Doctor!" he called in his rich, bellowing voice. "I say, Dr. Smith, Dr. Williams, I'm so glad I found you. One of my guests has been injured, a rather nasty hit on the head, an urn fell off the roof, and he got hurt getting out of the way. He insists that he's fine, but I would feel much better if he was seen by a doctor. I do hate to impose on the two of you but..."

"It's no imposition at all," the Doctor volunteered. "Dr. Williams will be glad to help."

"Excellent!" Lord Bromfield beamed. "Please follow me. I'll take you to him."

"Right," the Doctor lowered his voice and leaned in close to Rory. "You go with his Lordship and tend to the patient. I'm going to check the other side of the maze. There's... something in there, but I can't tell exactly what."

Rory grabbed the Doctor by the arm and pulled him along. "Whatever it is, it can wait," he hissed. "'You're coming with me to help make sure this person isn't seriously hurt. I mean, you don't just make a person a doctor and then run off after aliens." _And under any other circumstances, that would be a really strange sentence._

They followed Lord Bromfield across the grounds and back to the house where he escorted them down a long, wide corridor which led to a wing on the far west side of the manor. "The guest quarters are in this part of the house," he said, indicating the rooms along the hallway. "It allows for more privacy." They stopped outside the last set of doors. "Since Mr. Stetson is staying the weekend, I had him shown here to his room," Lord Bromfield explained.

"Did you say 'Stetson'?" Rory asked.

"Yes."

"Lee Stetson?"

"My goodness! Do you know him?"

"After a fashion," Rory replied with a half-hearted smile, thinking back to their brief encounter in the gardens.

"Well then, I'm certain he'll be glad to know he's in capable hands." Lord Bromfield beamed as he ushered them in. The room was spacious. All the furniture was a rich mahogany color and looked to be hand-carved with intricate designs that perfectly matched those adorning the wall panels. The curtains on the floor to ceiling windows were parted, letting in the late evening sun and flooding the room with a golden hue not that dissimilar from the one in the TARDIS.

_And this he calls a guest room_ , Rory thought as he looked around taking in his grandiose surroundings. His ruminations, however, came to an abrupt halt when he observed Lee, his shirt off with a robe over his shoulders, sitting on the edge of the large four-poster bed. And there standing dutifully over him was Amanda.

"I beg your pardon, Mrs. King," Lord Bromfield said softly.

"Oh, Lord Bromfield," she started. She had been so engrossed in doting over Lee she hadn't noticed anyone come in. "Were you able to find a doctor?"

"All the better. I have brought you not one but _two_ doctors." He stepped aside. "My dear Mrs. King," he said with a sweeping gesture of his hand, "allow me to introduce Dr. Williams and Dr. Smith."

"Rory?" Amanda and Lee said in tandem.

"Hello, Amanda," Rory replied with a somewhat sheepish smile.

"You didn't tell me you were a doctor," Amanda said brightly.

"Well..." Rory groped for an explanation, "I'm still getting used to the title."

"Oh, you're a new doctor?" Amanda asked.

"Very," Rory said flatly, with an irritated glance at the Doctor.

" _You_ are a doctor?" Lee asked, putting just enough emphasis on the "you" to not so subtly communicate his incredulity. Amanda looked back over her shoulder and gave him her best, most pathetic "please be nice" look. But Lee was undeterred. "Both of you?" He indicated the Doctor with a nod. "Both of you are doctors?"

"Well, not entirely." The Doctor said. He sidled past Rory and Amanda to stand over Lee. "My friend may be _a_ doctor," he leaned in closer, "but me, I'm _the_ Doctor." The tone of his voice was a strange mixture of irritation and condescension, similar to how a magician might speak to a particularly annoying child who won't stop asking the secrets to his tricks. Rory knew that the Doctor didn't appreciate being questioned (well, not if it was his credentials being questioned); the fact that he was lying was entirely beside the point.

Lee stared at the Doctor for a moment as if he were trying to figure him out; he opened and closed his mouth before managing to get out a simple, "Uh-huh."

The remark, however, was not lost on Amanda. She took a step closer to Rory and quietly asked, "The Doctor?"

"Yes," he confirmed her suspicion.

"Oh my gosh." _I was right. He was the Doctor. Oh my gosh, I knew it. But he looks so... young. I thought he'd look older._

Rory half rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it."

"Mrs. King?" Lord Bromfield motioned to Amanda.

"I better let you examine Mr. Stetson. Would you please excuse me?" she said to Rory and made her way across the room to join her host where he now stood, half in half out of the door.

"Mrs. King, I find that I must see to some rather pressing business that has come up rather... unexpectedly. I pray you will forgive me for taking my leave of you so abruptly, but I do hope I will have the pleasure of seeing both you and Mr. Stetson this evening."

Amanda watched Lord Bromfield disappear down the hall and around the corner with a haste that left her feeling that something very serious was happening, more so than he was letting on. However, something was happening right here and now, something she had often thought about but never dared to think would actually happen. She was in the same room with the Doctor.

"Hello," she said timidly.

"Hullo," he replied warmly, leaning forward to stare at her.

Amanda was temporarily speechless, though her thoughts were racing. _This is it, Amanda. This is the man Sarah Jane told you so much about, the salvation of entire worlds, the man who sees the whole of time and space from beginning to end at a glance. This is your chance to ask him all the things you ever wanted to._

"So... what brings you to England?" Amanda asked. _Oh dear, but if I don't ask now I might never get another chance, and this could be important._

"Actually, I don't really know yet," the Doctor said brightly. "It's still a bit of puzzle yet."

"I know exactly what you mean. I go places all the time and don't know why," Amanda replied. _This is not getting better._

"Splendid!" The Doctor's smiled bloomed into a gigantic grin. "People rarely know what I mean."

Amanda took a small step closer and cast a glance over at Lee to check that he was still preoccupied with Rory. "Sarah Jane talked so much about you, but I didn't expect... I mean I thought..." She faltered momentarily, searching for the right words.

"Didn't expect what?"

"I know you change. She told me that. And I believed her, really I did... It's just that... you don't look anything like the two of you Sarah Jane told me about. I don't know why I expected that you should."

"Well, everything's new; new shoes, new trousers, new shirt, new hair, and a new bow tie," the Doctor said briskly. "If nothing else, a new bow tie certainly changes everything."

"Yes, I like bow ties," Amanda said, almost absent-mindedly reaching up to straighten it but stopping just before she touched it. "Bow ties are cool."

"Yes... that's what I was just thinking." The Doctor's smile slowly dissolved and his expression became more sober. "In fact, that's _exactly_ what I was just thinking."

The Doctor's eyes took on a more intense, thoughtful look that made Amanda feel a bit uncomfortable. Even though there was nothing even remotely malevolent in the Doctor's demeanor, she felt like she was being scrutinized under a microscope, and it was when she looked in those eyes, that she knew without any doubt at all that it was really him. Those eyes were so old and held so much, Amanda began to feel overwhelmed.

"Doctor?" she asked, nervously.

"Tell me, Amanda, have you ever..." the Doctor started but was interrupted by Rory.

"I guess that wraps things up with Mr. Stetson," Rory said, grimly.

"All finished?" the Doctor asked.

"Since I don't have any sedatives with me, yes." His irritation was evident.

"Rory, I'm sorry," Amanda said, trying to smooth things over. She looked over at Lee who was busily belting his robe, looking like he was ready to shoot someone. "Mr. Stetson isn't the best patient, and he's under a lot of stress at the moment. Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be fine. There are no signs of a concussion and no discernible bone or joint damage. Still, he does have a very nasty bruise on his shoulder. He needs to take it easy for the next several days. Wouldn't you agree, Dr. Smith?"

"What? Oh right!" The Doctor recognized his cue. Being careful to keep his back to Lee, he took out his sonic screwdriver, made some adjustments and, after a few moments, concurred with Rory's assessment.

Just then, the door to the room opened and in stepped one of Lord Bromfield's many servants, a crisply dressed maid with a supercilious air. "I beg your pardon, but there is a young lady searching for Dr. Williams, and his Lordship informed me I could find him here," she said.

"Oh, Amy," Rory exclaimed. "Yeah, I promised to catch up with her. Um, I better go. Nice to see you again, Amanda." He followed the maid out of the room.

The Doctor stood there for a moment, his attention back on Amanda, but before he could say anything else, Lee crossed the room and not too subtly stepped between the two of them.

"Well, thank you, Doctor," he said, irritation clear in his voice. "I really don't want to keep you from the party."

The Doctor glanced at Lee for a moment. _Doctor, don't say anything_ , Amanda thought desperately. _He doesn't know. Oh, please, he won't believe it._

His head snapping back suddenly to look at Amanda, the Doctor said, "Don't worry about it," in a tone that seemed to be answering her thoughts rather than Lee's words. He kept his attention on Amanda. "I think I'd better get back to leaving no stone unturned. It's been a pleasure to meet you, Amanda King. I'm sure we'll get a chance to talk later; hopefully before chaos ensues, but either way, I'm sure there's a lot we could tell each other." He flashed a grin at both of them, before heading out the door.

"Can you believe that guy?" Lee said incredulously.

Amanda stood staring at the closed door. "Wow," she said, under her breath. "It really _is_ him."

"What was that?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing," she replied, nervously. "I've just never met anyone quite like him before."

"I'll bet," Lee said in an annoyed tone. "You'd better be careful about him."

Amanda looked at Lee with a wide-eyed stare. _Does he know? Have I been worrying about this for nothing?_ She took a breath and asked, tremulously, "What do you mean?"

"A—man—da," Lee said. "The guy's obviously a little nuts and interested in you. Not a good combination."

_Oh, that again. Why does he act like every man who talks to me is after me? Maybe he thinks I'll get taken in again by someone like Alan Squires, but, really, I learned my lesson, and this is the Doctor. If what Sarah Jane said is true, he's old enough to be my distant ancestor, no matter how young he appears to be. Darn, I was hoping Lee knew who the Doctor really was. Then I wouldn't have to worry about keeping things from him._ "Lee, the Doctor may be eccentric, but I'd hardly call him nuts," Amanda said.

"Eccentric or nuts, Amanda, he has his eye on you," Lee returned briskly. "You need to watch your step."

"And you need to get some rest," Amanda said lightly, deciding it was best to ignore his comment, or she'd start getting irritated herself. "Especially if you're determined to go to the party this evening."

Lee stared at her for a moment, as if he was planning to say something else, but instead said, "Yeah, I suppose. Why don't you come back in an hour? We'll go down to the party together."

"All right," Amanda said, going to the door. She paused there and looked at him. "But if you need me, I'll be in my room right across the hall. I don't plan to be anywhere else. Okay?"

"Fine, Amanda. Just fine," Lee said, wearily. "See you in an hour."

* * *

Rory followed the maid back through the house. He felt like he should say something but didn't know what, so he just kept quiet and reflected on his brief foray into being a doctor. Lee Stetson was not a patient he'd wish on anyone. Aside from Rory's fears that he'd misdiagnose a concussion and fractured bones as bumps and bruises, there was the fact that Stetson's attention was so firmly fixed across the room where Amanda and the Doctor were talking quietly, that Rory was hard-pressed to get him to answer his questions. Stetson had kept his expression mostly blank, but Rory didn't think the muscle twitching in his jaw was from pain so much as jealousy focused at the two people across the room. _God, is that what I look like when I see Amy and the Doctor together? I hope not._

When they finally reached Amy, Rory was relieved to see that she was looking happy rather than impatient.

"Ah, there's my wandering fellow," she said, cheerfully taking his arm and leading him back outside. "I hear you were doing good deeds."

"Yeah," Rory said. "Luckily, nothing beyond my skill set. How've you been getting on?" 

"Oh, it's been great. So many interesting people," Amy said, launching into a description of all the people she met and the food and the 80s fashions. Rory thoroughly enjoyed listening to her, especially since it meant that he didn't have to join the crowd while she talked.

They'd walked in the general direction of the maze. Rory figured that they'd meet the Doctor there, if he didn't get sidetracked again.

When Amy finished her spiel, she asked Rory, "So did you meet anyone interesting before you had to be a ministering angel?"

"Oh, um, yeah. There was one person, a really nice lady— Mrs. King, Amanda King. Weirdly, she knows someone who used to travel with the Doctor."

"I wonder if it's the one who wore the leather bikini," Amy said, almost under her breath.

"What?!" Rory exclaimed. "Well, she told me the name was Sarah Jane Smith and that she was a journalist, so I kind of doubt there were leather bikinis involved; she didn't sound like that kind of journalist.... So wait, you know about others who've been traveling with the Doctor?"

"I've seen pictures of the girls, at least," Amy replied. "He didn't exactly put names to the faces though. I guess there've been more than girls. He mentioned a metal dog. And I guess there's been a few blokes along too; he certainly implied it. Didn't get to check out those pictures though." Amy got a faraway look in her eyes. 

Rory repressed a sigh and looked around at the maze. "The Doctor thought there was something interesting around these parts. I wish I knew what it was."

"Let's go in," Amy said, excitedly. 

"But what if..." Rory started to say.

"Come on, it will be fun," Amy said, giving him that look he could never resist.

"Oh, all right, but we'll get lost," he said. 

"I have an excellent sense of direction. And will it really matter if we get lost if we're together?" Amy asked, pulling him toward the front of the maze. 

"Oh, all right," Rory said reluctantly. Under normal circumstances, he'd quite like to be lost with Amy in a maze. But circumstances were far from normal, and he couldn't help but feel that instead of fun, danger would be more likely lurking there. 

They'd just reached the gate of the maze, when they heard a voice from behind them.

"Oi, Pond. Where do you think you're going?"

Rory and Amy turned around to see the Doctor coming up behind them.

"We were just going into the maze," Amy said.

"Not a good idea," the Doctor said.

"And why not?" Amy asked.

"Can't be sure yet," he said, pointing his screwdriver in the general direction of the maze. "There's something interfering here. It doesn't make sense, and I'm forgetting something."

"What are you forgetting?" Amy asked.

"If I knew, I wouldn't have forgotten, would I?" the Doctor said impatiently. "Sorry; bit frustrated. I should be able to get a fix, and I can't. And then there's Amanda King. Very interesting woman. Glad you met her, Rory. Got a lot of secrets."

"Secrets?" Rory asked. "You mean above knowing about aliens and such."

"Well, yes. For starters, her boss isn't who he's pretending to be, which means she isn't either."

"So who are they?" Amy asked. "And how do you know?"

"Second question first. When I was doing my security scan when we arrived, I got all the top secret tidbits from everybody (well, almost everybody— UNIT and Torchwood have somehow gotten good at hiding stuff from me— not sure how they've done that— especially now), including the fact that Lee Stetson, an American intelligence agent, was assigned to plug a security leak before new defense strategies for the North Sea oil fields are laid out in... three days... I think. I just wish I knew if they were at all connected with why we're here, because there is something a bit different about Amanda King. Not quite as different as—" the Doctor broke off, glancing at Amy for just a moment before focusing in on Rory. "And that leads me to ask, how did you and Amanda get around to the subject of me?"

"What?" Rory asked.

"Simple enough question. Amazing though I may be, I have to wonder how you two got to the subject."

Rory looked at Amy and the Doctor uncertainly. He certainly didn't want to repeat the whole conversation. "I don't know. We were talking, and I mentioned that I was here with Amy and you, and when I said, 'The Doctor,' she looked surprised and then asked if you were the one who traveled with a big blue box, and when I said you did, she mentioned Sarah Jane Smith. That's all really. Why?"

"I just trying to put all the pieces together. I'm missing something. Something fairly obvious, and the connection is Amanda King. At first, I thought that UNIT might have been responsible for both of them being here, but now I doubt it. She doesn't think Stetson knows anything about aliens or alien technology, and I don't think any one has asked her to investigate aliens here either. At least, not yet. There is something odd about how she got invited here; it has the smell of being planned but in an almost byzantine manner that I can't quite follow. And we have the question of that accident Stetson had. Was it an accident? And if it wasn't, was it meant for him or her? And conversely, does it have to do with the reason he's here or the reason we're here? Or is it all connected?"

"Those are a lot of questions," Amy said.

"Yes, and I intend to find out the answers," the Doctor said, firmly. "And now back to the TARDIS because I've got some equipment to build, and you two have to get changed for the evening's party. It's formal, so I expect Amy is going to want to spend some time picking out what you're both going to wear, and there's only another hour or so before it starts."

"Again?" Rory asked anxiously.

"Again," Amy said smugly. "Let's go."

"Oh, all right," Rory said, as Amy and the Doctor headed back toward the TARDIS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sarah Jane Smith was one of our personal favorite companions of the Doctor. She travelled with the Third and Fourth Doctors, and her travels ended when the Fourth Doctor got a call summoning him to Gallifrey and he couldn't take her with him (probably having something to do with the last time he met Time Lords with companions and their having their memories of everything but their first adventure with him erased). So he tried to drop her home at South Croydon. He failed. It was only in the New Who episode "School Reunion" that we found out that he left her in Aberdeen. Sarah Jane and the Third Doctor met again in "The Five Doctors", and it's not clear if she remembers that in "School Reunion" or if she wasn't sure which Doctor was later than the Fourth in the time line (there'd be no point in asking the Third about something he hadn't done yet). Sarah Jane also appeared in the one off spinoff _K-9 & Company_ (1981) and her own series _The Sarah Jane Adventures_ (2007-2011). In the new series she met the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors.
> 
> The Mandragora Helix is a reference to "Masque of Mandragora". 
> 
> The Doctor's "I'm the doctor" statement is a call back to the first Tom Baker story "Robot" where he says to Harry Sullivan, "You may be a doctor, but I'm the Doctor, the definitive article, you might say." (Roughly, I didn't check to see if that's a 100 percent accurate version).
> 
> Amy's "leather bikini" reference is to Leela which is from a deleted scene from "Flesh and Stone" where she ends up seeing pictures of all the Doctor's previous female companions (yep, the guys and K9 completely left out). But just for the sake of accuracy, while Leela wore leather it was certainly not a leather bikini. 
> 
> Jealous!Lee happens to be one of my (LaCorelli's) favorite tropes. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Alan Squires appeared in the 1st season episode "The Artful Dodger" in which Amanda (who really should have known better at this point) is tricked by Squires into wearing a gaudy bugged ring as part of his cunning plan.


	4. Chapter IV

After she finished changing for the party (and she was so glad that she had remembered to pack an evening gown for this trip), Amanda knocked on the door to Lee's room. "Lee, it's me," she said. She heard a muffled "come in" from the other side of the door and pushed it open. 

Lee was working on the top button of his dress shirt; by the look on his face, Amanda could tell his shoulder was bothering him. Dropping her bag on a nearby chair, she crossed the room, and without a word, she finished buttoning his top button and started fastening his tie. Lee, uncharacteristically cooperative, let her finish before stepping away.

"I could have gotten that, Amanda," he said, as he gingerly put on his evening jacket.

"I know that, Lee," Amanda said lightly. "But Dr. Williams said your shoulder has a really nasty bruise. Why make it more painful? You're really supposed to be taking it easy."

"I'm fine," Lee said impatiently.

"Lee, you were almost killed," Amanda said. "Don't you think you should at least take more than an hour to recover?"

"I don't have time; I only have three days left, and it looks like someone here is involved. I have to keep investigating. It's just a bruised shoulder; I've dealt with worse."

Amanda sighed. Lee was always so stubborn. "Well, can't I help you? Two heads are better than one after all. I could do a little looking, and you could do some resting."

" _Amanda_ ," Lee said in that tone of frustration that drove her crazy. "You wouldn't know what to look for, and there's already been an attempt on my life. I don't intend to let you walk into danger in my place." He stopped for a moment, took a breath, and then as if he had just thought of it, said with exaggerated patience, "Besides, the reason we're both here is to give the impression we might be more than employer/employee. Now, how could we do that if you're at the party and I'm in my room?"

"Well, we could both skip the party," Amanda said hopefully. _Then I wouldn't have to deal with any busybodies._

Lee raised his eyebrows in mock shock. "Amanda King, I thought you didn't want people thinking you were a bimbette."

Amanda blushed. "I didn't mean it like that." 

"My own personal Bedside Bluebell? I think you're a little overdressed for the job," Lee said, looking down at her evening gown.

Blushing even redder, Amanda tried to compose herself. She knew he was teasing her, but the way he said it, put thoughts in her head that she knew he didn't mean for her to have. Amanda searched for something to say to get the conversation on another track before she began to rival Rudolph's nose in brightness. 

Before she could say anything, Lee dropped the teasing tone and said, "It's just a party, Amanda. Nothing stressful. We'll go and mingle, and I'll see what I can find out. Simple. No problem."

"I suppose so," Amanda said, quietly. She tried looking on the bright side. Well, Rory was nice, and she'd get to meet Amy. That was good, but then another more disturbing thought struck her— the Doctor. 

She wasn't sure about the Doctor. He wasn't either of Sarah Jane's Doctors, but he was still the Doctor, and where the Doctor went so did danger as well, and Amanda's life wasn't exactly trouble free either. What if this had something to do with why the Doctor was here? Shouldn't she tell Lee? But what could she tell Lee? She didn't think he'd believe her. 

She was so used to keeping the truly weird things in her life secret; she didn't know what to say, and even if she could, she didn't know why the Doctor was here, and she already knew that Lee didn't put much stock in her intuition as well as thinking the Doctor was a kook. Also, there was the fact that she had been warned when she'd join the Agency to say nothing about any of her more unusual experiences. It was so much easier to pretend things hadn't happened than to try to ignore the possibilities now before her. Or it'd be easier to know what to do if Lee wasn't right here with her; two different and yet secret sides of her life seemed to be colliding, and she didn't know how to handle it.

She had been right earlier. There was _no_ bright side. Amanda felt the beginnings of a headache.

Lee suddenly crossed to her. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked, giving her a piercing look.

For a moment, Amanda thought about saying no, but then he'd just go to the party without her, and he needed someone to watch his back, no matter what he thought. She forced a smile on her face. "Fine," she said, trying hard to sound cheerful. "Just wondering what the evening has in store." She picked up her bag from the chair. "At least, I have something to look forward to."

"And what's that?" Lee asked.

"Well, Rory and the Doctor should be there. And I'll get to meet Rory's fiancée, too. That's three people to look forward to," Amanda said.

Lee stared at her. "Why do you do that?"

"What?"

"Call Smith, the Doctor," Lee said.

_Oops_. "Well, that seems to be what he likes to be called," she said, hesitantly. "And I do like to call people what they want to be called. Anyway, it suits him." Amanda closed her eyes for a moment. _It really does, almost like the name was made for him rather than him taking the name._

"It's certainly pretentious enough," Lee muttered. "What kind of guy calls himself, 'The Doctor'?"

"I really couldn't say, _Scarecrow_ ," Amanda said pointedly.

"Hey, I didn't give myself the name," he said with some asperity.

"How would I know?" she replied, with an innocent air. _It's not like you're ever going to tell me how you got the name anyway. Though I have my suspicions._

Lee looked like he wanted to say something but was holding back. He glanced at his watch. "It's about time we headed down, don't you think?" He opened the door.

"If we must," Amanda said quietly, as she stepped out into the hallway, not really looking forward to the evening ahead.

* * *

Rory watched the Doctor tinkering with whatever gizmo he was building and ran a finger around the top of his collar. He was uncomfortable in the tux, but at least it fit, and Amy was too excited about picking her own dress to really bother about his outfit, at least once it was clear that he intended to wear a standard black tux, black tie, no exotic trimmings.

He'd tried asking the Doctor what he was building, but the Doctor had just waved Rory away, saying he'd explain things once Amy arrived, since he didn't want to tell it twice. Rory wasn't in the mood to argue, so he just sat down and waited.

It felt like he was always waiting. Waiting on Amy who had been waiting on the Doctor. Now he was still waiting, waiting for her to get ready and more importantly waiting to find out what Amy wanted. Did she really want him? Or was he just the guy to make do with until she got what she really wanted? That was the question he wanted to ask but dreaded hearing the answer to. So he'd wait and hope.

It was just as well, he supposed, that he had to wait. He wasn't in that big of a hurry to get to the party. He felt uncomfortable being around people who believed he was a doctor. At least he was a nurse, so it wasn't _that_ much of a stretch. Still, he'd spent so much of his life enduring Amy making him out to be something he wasn't, and for the Doctor, a comparative stranger, to be doing it as well was almost more than he could countenance.

Finally, Amy came out, and Rory caught his breath. She was wearing a long, gold, strapless evening dress. Her rich, crimson hair was done up in a french twist, held in place by a couple of diamond studded hairpins, save for a couple of tendrils that fell down on each side to perfectly frame her face. Rory didn't think he had ever seen her look so beautiful. She always looked beautiful, and she did it so effortlessly.

Amy sauntered up to Rory, adjusted his tie a bit, and affectionately smoothed the front of his shirt. "Hello," she purred.

"Ah... hello," he replied awkwardly.

"Don't you look handsome?" she smiled.

Rory looked her up and down. "You look..." he faltered, smiling haplessly, looking for just the right word. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful, but it seemed to him that _beautiful_ was so inadequate that it bordered on being an insult. "You look..."

"Splendid!" the Doctor exclaimed as he emerged from beneath the TARDIS console, unintentionally completing Rory's thought. "I see both of you are ready." He turned his attention to Amy. "My, my, don't you look stunning? Don't you think she looks stunning?"

"Uh... yes I do," Rory replied.

"Well, thank you kind sirs," she smiled and gave them a little curtsy.

"Doctor?"

"Yes, Rory."

"Now that we're all assembled, will you show us what you've been working on?"

"Ah, yes!" He reached beneath the TARDIS console and grabbed what he'd been working on. "Here it is," he exclaimed proudly, holding aloft.

"It's a book," Amy said flatly.

"Oh, that's how it seems." The Doctor's smile widened. "It looks like a book. It feels like a book. I've largely given up licking things at random, but I would assume it tastes like a book. However..." He opened the cover to reveal a hollowed out space in which rested a device slightly larger than a typical mobile. It had several unmarked buttons of various colors below a small screen, in the center of which was a flashing circle surrounded by an assortment of numbers, letters, and curious symbols.

"What does it do?" Rory asked.

"It's a time-spatial signal triangulator."

"You mean like a G.P.S.?"

"Of sorts. It's calibrated to listen for our strange signal. Every time it detects a transmission, it captures it in a four-dimensional map."

"Four?"

"This maps space _and_ time. It keeps collecting transmissions and overlaying them on a map of my position in space and time and _voila_! It tells me if I'm getting hotter or colder."

"Couldn't you just do that with the TARDIS?"

"Don't be silly, Rory," the Doctor retorted. "I couldn't fit the TARDIS into a book. Well... I mean, yes, technically I could but that's not the point. For this to work, I have to keep changing position, and the TARDIS has gotten settled here in the wine cellar, and the old girl likes her comfort. So, that being said... it's off to the party with the two of you while I... look around."

"What exactly is it we're supposed to be doing at this party?"

"It's a party, Rory. We're going to have fun," Amy said as she eased up next him and put her arm through his.

"Yes, have fun," the Doctor beamed. "Meet some new people, rub elbows with the social elite, oh, and by the way, I got a peek at the guest list, and if you run into Janet Ellis, tell her I'm sorry I missed the taping of the show last month, but I'll make it up to her. I mean, I don't know why she wanted me on _Blue Peter_ in the first place."

"Have fun?" Rory asked.

"Yes."

"Meet people?"

"Yes."

"And... ?" Rory pressed.

"And what?"

"What else do you want us to do?"

"Nothing."

Rory raised a single, disbelieving, somewhat accusatory eyebrow.

"Well... while you're at the party, talk to Amanda King. See if you can arrange a time later tonight when the three of us could meet with her."

"What has Amanda King got to do with all of this?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. I really... don't know." The Doctor was suddenly more serious. "But the TARDIS brought us here, to this place, this time, chasing an alien signal that seems to be coming from somewhere inside the home of the British Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs. And I have a friend in common with one of the two American agents sent to deal with a major security threat. It's... it's all too coincidental to just be a coincidence. And I'm not going to be able to find out what Amanda has to do with it until I can get her away from her... friend."

"We'll do our best," Rory reassured him. He took Amy by the hand and led her out of the TARDIS, out of the cellar, and toward the party.

_Have fun. Meet people. Sort out international intrigue. Not a problem._

* * *

Amanda entered the crowded room with Lee and Lord Bromfield, looking around to see if she could spot Rory or the Doctor. She thoroughly agreed with Lord Bromfield about disliking large parties and wished she could have said that instead of following Lee's lead and agreeing that she was looking forward to it. But it was his case, and as his partner, she had to put aside her feelings for the job.

Lady Bromfield approached her husband, asking where he'd been, and he expressed both his willingness to be gracious and his intention to slip off for a quiet cigar as soon as possible. Amanda wished she could do the same. Not smoke a cigar, but at least get away from the crowd. She couldn't help but notice the coolness between the husband and wife, staying apart, not even a hand on the arm. Was this the famous English reserve in action? 

Amanda kept scanning the room, barely registering the conversation between Lady Bromfield and Lee. It was all very conventional. Then to her horror, Lady Witherspoon spotted her.

"My dear, I've been looking simply everywhere for you because I really do want to find out what happened," she said gleefully.

"Yes," Amanda said, trying to hide her discomfort and looking like mad for an excuse to get away from the prying woman. Lee was being no help. Amanda thought she saw Rory in the corner of the room.

"I mean, how did you come to be in that position?" Lady Witherspoon asked.

"Oh, Lady Witherspoon, it was an accident really. Do excuse me, but there's someone over there I have to speak to. We'll talk later. Excuse me," Amanda said, rushing away, hoping desperately that Lady Witherspoon wouldn't follow her. She glanced behind to see Lady Witherspoon had turned her sights on to Lee and had glommed on to him. Amanda almost laughed when she saw the look Lee shot her, but she didn't feel guilty leaving him to his fate. After all he wanted to investigate on his own, and Lady Witherspoon would probably be a fount of inside information.

Amanda crossed the room to where Rory and a beautiful red-headed young woman were standing together watching the crowd.

"Hello, Rory," Amanda said, brightly, looking at both him and the young woman. "It's nice to see you again."

"Hullo, Amanda," Rory said. He looked over at Amy, who was smiling expectantly. "This is Amy. My fiancée," he added in a cheerful voice.

"I'm very happy to meet you," Amanda said, extending a hand. 

"Same here," Amy said and then added in a conspiratorial whisper, "The Doctor doesn't talk much about his past. I'd love to hear some stories about him, even second hand ones."

Rory looked irritated. "Yeah, but first we need to find out what's going on here. And, Amanda, we need to know if we can talk in front of Mr. Stetson or not."

"Oh, and we know you're spies," Amy added quietly. "So you don't have to lie about that."

"Oh my gosh," Amanda said, glancing over her shoulder to see that Lee was still with Lady Witherspoon. "I should have known that the Doctor would know. He _is_ the Doctor after all. I do hate lying, but we are here undercover. About talking in front of Lee, I wish I knew. I only know that when I joined the Agency I was warned not to mention any of my more unusual experiences (I can't say by who), and the Agency has never asked me anything about them, and I haven't been in a situation like this since I've joined. I don't know if Lee knows anything, and I can't tell him unless he knows, or well, an alien invasion is happening right in front of us, then there wouldn't be any question."

"All right, then maybe we should arrange to meet later," Amy said. "In case we're interrupted." Then looking across the room to where Lee was standing, she added, "Is that him?" At Amanda's nod. "He's a bit dreamy. So are you two an item?"

Amanda flushed. "Not exactly. We work together, and we're friends, but, um, he prefers, uh, short term romances, and that's just not me. Anyway, I'm not his type," Amanda said quickly before rushing on to her questions. "Um, where and when do you want to meet, and where is the Doctor?"

Amy spoke up. "Well, the Doctor's planning on investigating the maze with some contraption he created. And the TARDIS is parked in the wine cellar. We could meet there around midnight, if you like. Do you think you can slip away by then?"

"Yeah, I should be able to do that," Amanda said. _It's not like Lee won't be trying to ditch me by then anyway._ "Anyway, what do you want to know?"

"Um, the Doctor's curious about how you got invited," Rory said. "He said it seemed like someone planned it, and also, he wanted to know about the accident with the urn."

"Oh," Amanda said. "Well, one thing I should tell you before we're interrupted is that the photographer that took the picture— Compson, his name is Compson— was here earlier and Lord Bromfield thinks he might have pushed the urn over, but Lee isn't sure and..."

Amy, who was looking past Amanda's shoulder, broke in. "Looks like we're about to have company."

Amanda looked over her shoulder to see Lee coming up to join them. "Oh, hello, Mr. Stetson," she said. "I saw Rory and his fiancée over here and just had to say hi. This is Amy Pond." _It never fails; any time it looks like I'm going to find out something more Lee shows up. Maybe I should just tell him and let him think we're all crazy. Well, at least I should get a chance later tonight. Thank goodness for separate rooms._

"Dr. Williams. Miss Pond, nice to meet you," Lee said politely, giving Amy a cursory glance. "Amanda, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Uh, sure," she said, as he pulled her to one side.

Lee leaned into Amanda's ear and whispered, "I can't believe you did that."

Amanda forced an innocent look on her face. "What?"

He looked in her eyes. "You know perfectly well," he said, still whispering. "Abandoning me to Lady Witherspoon like that."

Amanda kept her expression neutral and her tone soft, though it was difficult with him so close. "I didn't abandon you. I just saw Rory and Amy here and had to speak to them. I didn't know you weren't following me. Besides, I thought you wanted to ask questions, and who better to ask than Lady Witherspoon?"

"Hmm," Lee said skeptically. He glanced around the room. "And where's your friend, 'the Doctor'?"

Amanda could hear the quotation marks in his voice, but before she could say anything, Lee gaze locked on someone across the room. Following his line of sight, Amanda spotted the photographer, who also saw them and began heading away.

"Compson," Lee said tersely before going after him.

Amanda looked back at Amy and Rory. "The photographer," she mouthed, before dashing after Lee.

Back in the hall with weapons, Amanda noticed that one of the pikes was missing and grew even more concerned. What if the photographer was leading Lee into a trap? She needed to warn him. Hearing footsteps in front of her, Amanda hurried after them and back outside the house. The sun was low in the sky, and it was getting harder to see, but she could just make out Lee running across the lawn toward the hedge maze and followed after him. 

Amanda paused after she entered the darkening maze; it was very quiet, and no one was in sight. Moving forward carefully, she kept listening and tried to figure out where she should go. She knew she should have paid more attention to the travel guide she'd read on the way over. There'd been something on English hedge mazes, but for the life of her she could not remember what it had said. She also was starting to wonder just what she could do if she found whoever had taken the pike from the wall. Well, not knowing what to do had never stopped her before, and she wasn't going to let it stop her now. If she was lucky, she could confuse them to death, but she still wondered why the Agency was so reluctant to give her the training she needed. The few self-defense courses she'd taken just weren't enough. She knew it. She'd requested it and requested it, and Mr. Melrose had promised, but then one assignment after another interfered or it wasn't the right time, or they couldn't justify it for a civilian, and it really wasn't fair. She was out in the field, and it was dangerous, and she needed to be able to protect her partner as well as he protected her.

Amanda realized she was letting herself get distracted and focused on listening again. It was getting darker now, and she could hear something just ahead. Gingerly, she looked around the corner. Nothing. But still she moved cautiously. There. Ahead. But it was a strange kind of sound. Not like a person at all but some weird mix of a mechanical and organic sound. Nervously, she edged in the direction of the sound. Just as she peered round the corner, she saw a silhouetted figure near the end of the next path— something tall and broader than a human. It didn't seem to have any neck, but in the dark she couldn't tell if it was its head or some kind of head gear. It seemed to be facing her. Amanda froze not knowing what to do. Then in the opposite direction she heard the sounds of a struggle. The whatever-it-was disappeared around the far corner with a soft hiss. Amanda looked after it, but decided it was more important to find her partner and moved towards the sounds of the struggle.

As she rounded the corner, she heard a gasp and a thud, and in the gloom, she could just make out the sight of Lee standing looking down at the body of a man at his feet. Amanda took a few hesitating steps forward and recognized the man as the photographer.

"Is that... is he..." she couldn't say it. 

Lee leaned down and checked the man's pulse. "Yeah, he's dead," he said quietly.

"What— what do we do?" Amanda asked, still stunned.

Lee looked around a moment, staring at the hedge. "Well, it's too late to go after the murderer," he said almost to himself. "By the time we'd get to the other side, they'd be long gone. Probably knows the maze well." Standing up, he suddenly focused in on her. "What are you doing out here?" he asked, taking her by the arms.

"I followed you," Amanda said, shakily. "I noticed one of the pikes was missing," her eyes involuntarily moved to the body, "and I thought you might be going into a trap."

"You could have been killed," Lee said fiercely.

"I was worried," Amanda replied, trying to hide a grimace as he tightened his grip. 

Looking at her face, he suddenly released her arms and put on his professional expression. "I can take care of myself fine. I've been doing it for a long time. Now, I'm going to get you out of this maze, and then while I wait here, I need you to tell Lord Bromfield what has happened and tell him to ask for Inspector Keaton of Scotland Yard for the investigation."

"The Inspector from the Mongoose case?" Amanda asked.

Lee looked surprised. "Yeah, him. He knows us— me— and that will make the job easier."

"All right," Amanda said, hesitatingly.

Lee put an arm around her as he cautiously guided her back out of the maze. Amanda could tell he was checking on the off chance the murderer had lingered instead of running for it. The gloom had deepened so that it was difficult to see. They reached the gate without incident.

"All right," Lee said. "Straight back to the house; no detours. I'll be here." He stood at the hedge beside the gate.

Amanda started to leave, but then remembered the strange figure she'd seen. She didn't think it could have been the murderer, but that didn't mean Lee would be safe. She had to say something. Turning back, she touched Lee's arm. "Lee, I almost forgot. I saw someone in the maze right before Compson was killed. I'm sure it wasn't the murderer— they didn't have anything in their hands that I could see— but there was someone else there. I couldn't tell you who it was. It was just a silhouette really, but uh, I just thought you should know— in case..." her voice faded out in the end as she saw Lee's skeptical expression. She took a breath and went on more determinedly. "I saw someone else there. Just promise you won't go back in until the police get here."

He stared at her for a minute as if trying to figure out what she would do if he just ignored her and then shook his head in resignation. "Fine. I promise. Now hurry up."

"All right." Amanda started to leave again, but turned back. "Don't stand too close to the hedge."

"I won't. Now go," Lee said impatiently.

Amanda hurried away. When she reached the area overlooking the maze, she turned back to check to see if Lee was still standing by the maze. He was— looking annoyed and pacing but still there. For some reason, she stood frozen watching him. She knew she needed to hurry to report the murder, but she just couldn't make her feet move as feelings of guilt started to overwhelm her. Lying to Lee was worse than lying to her mother, even if technically she wasn't lying at all. She was supposed to be his partner, even if he thought of her as window-dressing, and she thought he'd never forgive her if he knew just how much she was concealing from him. She had the sudden urge to run back and tell him everything: what she thought she saw in the maze; what she knew about the Doctor; what she and Sarah Jane had encountered, including the real cause of her kitchen fire. Then she thought about the oaths of secrecy she'd taken after that incident and the reminder she'd gotten right after she'd gotten involved with the Agency. She took her promises seriously, and yet shouldn't Lee know? Things could be so much more dangerous than he realized, and if something happened to him, it would be all her fault. Just about to rush back down to him, she was surprised by a voice behind her. Turning she saw Amy.

"Oh, there you are," Amy said. "When you took off, Rory and I decided to follow, but we weren't sure which way you went so we split up. I told Rory to try to find the Doctor."

"That's probably a good idea," Amanda said, glancing back down at where Lee was pacing. She'd delayed too long already, and her moment had passed. She straightened her shoulders and spoke to Amy. "That photographer I told you about was murdered in the hedge maze— with a pike. Lee's waiting outside of it now, and I've got to tell Lord Bromfield to phone Scotland Yard. Have you seen him recently?"

"Who? Lord Bromfield?"

"Yes."

"Actually, I have," Amy said. "I passed him as I was heading out here. I can take you straight to him."

"Perfect," Amanda replied, looking back at Lee one last time before starting towards the Hall at a hurried pace with Amy at her side. "The sooner the police are called the better. I don't want Lee getting impatient and doing something impulsive."

As they walked, Amy asked, "Are you sure you're not his type?"

"What?" Amanda was nonplused.

"Your partner, you know the one you were staring at so intently just now. At the party, I saw how he was watching you across the room. And Rory told me he was more interested in watching you and the Doctor than his sore shoulder."

"Oh, he was probably worried I'd do something to embarrass him. I'm still an amateur after all," Amanda said, with an attempt at light-heartedness.

"It seemed a bit more _personal_ than that."

"Well, he's always been very protective, since he's the one who got me involved in this business," Amanda replied, not really wanting to say that Lee's motivations were often a mystery to her. Quickly looking for another topic, she asked, "Tell me, how did you meet the Doctor?"

Amy was silent for a moment, and then said, "When I was seven years old there was this crack in my wall, and he showed up. He'd just regenerated. Do you know about that?"

"Um, yes, Sarah Jane told me about it. It sounds very strange."

The two of them entered the Hall.

"This way," Amy said, before continuing. "It _was_ very strange, even though I don't know what he was like before. He kept asking for food and spitting it out. Anyway, he closed the crack in my wall and promised to come back in five minutes and showed up twelve years later."

"Twelve years?" Amanda was astonished. "I'd heard his timing could be bad, but that's a bit much."

"Yeah, I thought so. Every one thought he was imaginary. So he came back twelve years later. We saved the world, and then he dashed off for a short trip and showed up two years later. and that's when he actually took me traveling with him."

"Fourteen years," Amanda murmured, suddenly remembering what Rory had told her earlier about Amy and the Doctor. Hoping to gloss over the awkward moment, Amanda asked, more brightly, "What's it like traveling through time and space? Have you been anywhere really interesting?"

Amy brightened. "We haven't been traveling together long, but I've already been on a starship powered by a space whale. Then we went back to World War II and met Winston Churchill and Daleks. And he finally took me to an alien planet when he was helping a mysterious friend of his. That was actually pretty intense; there were a lot of deadly statues, and I really... needed a moment back home. Unbelievably he managed to arrive five minutes after we left," Amy paused for a moment, looking a bit more unsure of herself, then continued a bit faster. "We picked up Rory, and went back to Venice in the 16th Century and met fish vampire aliens. And of course, here which had been pretty quiet until now. I'm pretty certain Lord Bromfield went in here," she said pointing at a door ahead of them.

Knocking on the door, Amanda was relieved to hear Lord Bromfield say, "Come in."

"I'll wait here," Amy whispered. "I don't want to make it awkward for you."

Amanda nodded thankfully before opening the door and stepping inside the large but comfortable looking room. Lord Bromfield had been sitting in an oversized chair but stood when he saw Amanda.

"Good evening, Mrs. King," he said. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Well, uh, yes," Amanda said moving forward tentatively, suddenly unsure what to say but determined to plow forward quickly. "Something's happened out in the hedge maze. That photographer, he's been killed, and Mr. Stetson wants you to call Scotland Yard and ask for Inspector Keaton for the investigation, since, well, he knows us, and it would make it easier all around. If you don't mind, that is. I'm really sorry about this."

"Nonsense, Mrs. King. You've nothing to apologize for. I am glad that you and Mr. Stetson weren't hurt. At least, I hope neither of you were hurt."

"No, we weren't. Thank you."

Lord Bromfield hesitated a moment then asked, "How was Compson killed? Do you know?"

"Um, one of the pikes," Amanda said. "Someone shoved it through the hedge. I'm not really sure who they were trying to kill actually— Lee or Compson."

"Oh, dear," Lord Bromfield said, almost distractedly, before adding. "Did you— was there— anything else of importance?"

Amanda thought for a moment but decided against mentioning anything about the silhouette she'd seen. "Nothing of importance. Is that enough information for the police?"

"I think so. I'm sure they'll have plenty of questions when they get here. I'll make the call to Scotland Yard now," he said, going over to a telephone sitting on a large desk. "Inspector Keaton, did you say?"

Amanda nodded her head, and Lord Bromfield made the call. When he finished, he said, "The police should be here inside of half an hour. I'll need to tell Lady Bromfield. We'll have to make some kind of announcement to our guests."

"All right. I'll just go let Mr. Stetson know," Amanda said, leaving the room.

"All done?" Amy asked, when she saw her.

"Yes, I've just got to go back and tell Lee," Amanda replied.

"Do you mind if I walk along with you?" Amy asked.

"Not at all," Amanda said, as they started retracing their steps back to the front of the Hall.

Amanda wanted to ask more questions about Amy's travels, but wasn't too sure if she'd be too prying. A space whale, Winston Churchill, and fish vampires. It made her own adventures seem so mild in comparison. So she was surprised when Amy asked, "So, what's it like being a spy? Is it very James Bond or mostly dull?"

"It's exciting and a bit dangerous, but more like _The Man from U.N.C.L.E._ ," Amanda replied, smiling as she remembered the huge crush she'd had on Ilya Kuriakin in her teenage years, then seeing Amy's blank look, sighed and added. "Or _The Avengers_?" Amy nodded, so she continued. "Though I'm no Mrs. Peel, just a civilian auxiliary."

"How did you ever get involved?"

"A little over a year ago, I was taking a... friend to the train station, and this strange man in a waiter's outfit grabbed me and asked me to give a package to 'the man in the red hat'. I'm still not sure why I agreed; there was something in his eyes, I think. But there were twenty-five men with red hats on the train, so I couldn't. Then Lee managed to contact me— you know, I've never asked him how he found me. Then my mother accidently mailed the package, but it was okay because my son Philip had seen what was inside it. It all turned out to involve murdered agents and an unknown way of passing on information. Lee was in danger, and I managed to find him and ended up flying a helicopter for the first time— very badly— I don't think I ever want to try that again. In any event, Mr. Melrose, that's our boss, was impressed enough that he kept partnering me with Lee on cases. There have been some strange adventures; some I wish I could talk about. One time I spent the night in a straight jacket in a seedy bookie joint, and last Christmas I spent trapped with KGB agents in a cabin. And not too long ago, I got my first trip to England in order to identify an old high school friend they thought might be an international killer. He wasn't, of course. He'd just got caught in something he couldn't get out of." They'd stepped back outside. Amanda looked at Amy as a thought occurred. "Shouldn't the Doctor know what happened? The police will be here soon."

"You're right," Amy said, pulling out her mobile phone. Amanda looked at it in astonishment, as Amy dialed. "Come on, Doctor," she muttered. Then, "About time, Doctor. Where are you?... Well, there's been a murder in the maze.... Amanda told me.... Yes, she's right here.... Fine." Amy held out her phone. "He wants to talk to you."

Amanda gingerly took the phone from her hand. It was so small; she'd never seen anything like it. "Hello?" she said uncertainly.

"Hullo, Amanda King," the Doctor's voice was very clear in her ear. "Tell me what happened. Quickly if you can."

Nervously, but determined, Amanda spoke quickly, telling him what had happened, finishing by saying, "Oh, I'd almost forgot. There was someone or something in the maze. It didn't look quite human. I don't think it could have been the murderer though, I'm not sure there was enough time for it to get around, but of course, I can't be sure since I don't know what it was."

"Fair enough; now we need to talk, but obviously we don't have time now. Where are you staying?"

Amanda told him. 

"I know where that room is, and it's got a back way in. I'll meet you there later after the police have left, and we can exchange information."

"All right," Amanda said.

"Now let me talk to Amy."

Amanda wordlessly handed back the phone.

Amy listened for a moment. "Yes... I'll tell him.... Bye." She ended the call, and then dialed a number, waited a few seconds. "Where are you?... How could you get lost?.... Yes, something's happened.... No.... There's been a murder.... The photographer Amanda told us about.... The Doctor wants us to head back to the TARDIS and lie low. Can you manage?... See you there.... Me too." She ended the call then looked at the phone for a few moments with a curious expression on her face.

Amanda was fascinated with the compactness of the device. "You know, I never asked, when are you from?" she said finally. _And that's a question I never really thought I'd get to ask_.

Amy looked at her for a moment before answering simply, "2010."

"Oh my gosh," Amanda breathed. "I know I shouldn't ask any more, so I'm not going to. I guess you haven't even been born yet."

"Not quite," Amy said with a smile. Then she looked pensive for a moment. "Before I go, I was wondering if I could ask you a question or maybe some advice. I know it's strange; we've just met, but somehow, I think you might understand."

"Sometimes it's easier to confide in strangers, than people we've known a long time," Amanda said. "I don't mind."

Amy took a deep breath. "Have you ever wanted something so badly for so long but gotten to the point you don't think it will ever happen, so you settle down and find something steady and stable that's always been in your reach? And then something happens, and what you wanted is actually in your grasp and in the heat of the moment you lose your head and do something really reckless to try to get it? And then you're faced with the fact that you could be losing that steady, stable thing, and you're not sure you want to do that."

Amanda closed her eyes for a moment and thought quickly as she put together what Amy was saying now with what she'd heard from both Amy and Rory earlier. Somehow in a lightning flash, she understood exactly what Amy was asking her, and for some reason, she was reminded of the time she'd had amnesia and forgotten her boyfriend Dean as well as Lee Stetson and the Agency. The latter, she'd realized, she'd forgotten because of the danger it had put her in, and the former, she'd more reluctantly realized, she'd forgotten because she didn't want to deal with the fact that she was not in love with Dean and hadn't had the courage to break it off. She'd been curiously relieved though pained by the discovery. But Rory was different from Dean. She could see the way he looked at Amy, and there was even something in the way Amy looked at him, though she probably didn't even know it. And the Doctor, well, he was the Doctor. Someone ancient and alien. He could be your best friend, but anything more was out of the question. 

So very carefully, with a vagueness equal to Amy's own, Amanda said, "Well, I think it might be a good idea to consider how you'd feel if the steady, stable thing were gone for good. Dreams can be great, but sometimes it's better to have something consistent to balance out the dreams, especially since sometimes fantasies can turn out to be lousy."

Amy looked thoughtful but didn't say anything.

Amanda was startled by the distant sound of sirens. "Oh my gosh. I've got to get back to Lee and let him know. I hope we get another chance to talk later. Be careful." She dashed off before Amy could say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Bedside Bluebell" is a reference to the first season SMK episode "If Thoughts Could Kill", where Amanda was a hospital volunteer (Bedside Bluebell) and was helping Lee who was recovering from an injury (and being brainwashed at night— she helped him overcome that too).
> 
> And after all these years, I can't remember why we had the Janet Ellis _Blue Peter_ reference, other than the fact that _Doctor Who_ has had strong connections to _Blue Peter_ over the years. 
> 
> Inspector Keaton first appeared in the SMK episode "To Catch a Mongoose". 
> 
> Amy's story references are from the first part of season 5: "The Eleventh Hour," "The Beast Below," "Victory of the Daleks," "The Time of Angels"/"Flesh and Stone", and "The Vampires of Venice".
> 
> _The Man from U.N.C.L.E._ (1964-1968) was an American spy series starring Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin. And also a more recent movie, but this story was written well before that happened. In that series, the UNCLE agents tended to recruit "innocents" aka amateurs/uninvolved civilians to help them in their work.
> 
> _The Avengers_ (1961-1969) was a British spy series (and the reason why I tend to tack Marvel in front of any mention of the MCU gang in my head if not out loud), where John Steed (Patrick Macnee) mostly worked with a series of amateur (aka not professionally trained as spies) partners , the most famous of which (and my favorite) would be Mrs. Emma Peel (Diana Rigg). 
> 
> In any we've always thought that _Scarecrow and Mrs King_ was very much the spiritual successor of both, with the pairing of the professional with the innocent/untrained civilian who eventually becomes a full agent. 
> 
> And in the 1980s cellphones tended to be bulky monstrosities and more likely to be car phones (though SMK did have a couple of more compact devices that were more radios than phones); hence Amanda's amazement at Amy's mobile.


	5. Chapter V

Rory was standing in the TARDIS kitchen, making tea, when Amy returned from changing her clothes. He handed her a cup.

"Thanks," she said sitting down at the table. "Has the Doctor come back yet?"

"No," Rory said. "I think he decided to go meet Amanda directly without coming back here."

"I still think we should have kept the meeting for here," Amy said. "I'm sure Amanda would like to see the inside of the TARDIS." She looked over at Rory for a moment, an expression he couldn't decipher on her face. "You were right. She's very nice. It's a pity her partner's so..."

"Bad-tempered?"

"No." Amy laughed

"Moody?"

"Not that either."

"Blind as a bat?" Rory was out of ideas.

"That sounds right," Amy finished with a laugh. "It's hard to believe that a secret agent wouldn't know about some of the weirder things going on around him."

"Yeah," Rory replied. _Though he's not so blind that he doesn't realize that the Doctor is serious competition for Amanda's attention,_ he thought. _What is it about_ him _? Some godlike quality that we mere mortals can't compare to, not even a dashing secret agent. I don't even think the Doctor does it on purpose. Somehow, I'd feel better if he did._ "So many conspiracy theorists would be so disappointed."

"Well, maybe it's above his pay level," Amy said, curiously losing her smile as if another thought had occurred to her. She finished her tea. Looking around impatiently, she continued, "You know, waiting around like this is not how things usually go."

"Oh," Rory said, "how do they usually go?"

"Well, more like Venice, running and monsters and more running. Not going to parties and hiding out in the TARDIS. I wonder what he did get up to in the 1980s that he feels like he has to do everything so quietly."

"I like quiet," Rory muttered before continuing. "Do you mean you'd rather be running for your life from alien fish vampires than having an easy time at a posh house part?"

"Yes, I mean, no. It's hard to explain," Amy said. "I told you about being scared. And that was true. But it's also been amazing. The first place we went was a starship powered by a space whale."

"A space whale?" Rory asked skeptically.

"Trust me, I ended up being spit up by it," Amy said flatly. "The thing is that the government was torturing the whale to get it to fly the ship, and everyone was choosing to forget rather than remember the horrible thing they were doing. But they didn't have to do it. The whale was willing to save them if only for their children. Two hundred years of pointless torture, and it still forgave them. And then we helped a robotic man find his heart and defuse a bomb at the same time. The Weeping Angels, though— yeah, that was pretty much all terrifying."

"And the fish vampires," Rory added.

"Those too. I guess a break isn't so bad," Amy said. She was looking at Rory almost speculatively.

"The not running has been nice," Rory said, shifting in his seat.

"But you've hated the parties," Amy said.

"Well, only a little," Rory replied, a little uncertainly. "It hasn't been that bad. After all, I've been able to look at you looking gorgeous." _And that sounded so much better in my head._

Amy smiled at him and took his hand. Rory wished he could tell what she was thinking. Leaning across the table, she gave him a kiss.

"Come on," she said, standing up and pulling at his hand. "As easy as this is, I don't feel like sitting here waiting for the Doctor to get back." She headed back to the console room, holding his hand all the while. "I want to investigate that maze."

"What happens if we're caught? I'm not really in the mood to go to jail in the 1980s," Rory said. He'd much rather stay in the TARDIS and figure out what was going on in Amy's head.

Releasing his hand, Amy went over to a box in a corner of the console room and dug through it. "Aha," she said, pulling out a folded piece of leather. "I knew there was an extra one. Psychic paper. If any one asks us what we're doing, we'll show them this and tell them we're intelligence agents investigating the crime."

"Spies?" Rory was skeptical. He decided to look through the box himself to see if there was anything useful for him. A couple of items had definite possibilities, considering what they'd likely be doing, so he slipped them into his pockets while Amy was talking.

"Why should Amanda and her friend have all the fun?" Amy replied. "Come on. I want to see what's in the maze."

_This is a bad idea_ , he thought as he checked to see that he still had his flashlight. "All right, if you insist."

Amy put another flashlight in her pocket, turned and smiled at him. "I do insist," she said.

* * *

Amanda closed and locked the door to the guest room, nerves strung tight, even though the initial investigation hadn't been too arduous. It had been painful to rehash the earlier business with the photographer and the scandal, but Inspector Keaton was very polite. Lee had told her to say nothing of the job they were there on, that he would handle that, so she simply told exactly what she saw in the maze, no embellishments, no speculations, no mention that the silhouette looked alien. She and Lee were to go to Scotland Yard in the morning, so they didn't seem to be serious suspects, which rather relieved her. 

Crossing the room, Amanda quickly started changing into the scoop-necked red sweatshirt, black pants, and sneakers she'd laid out earlier on the assumption that for one reason or another she might be sneaking around Bromfield Hall in the late hours and the attire was casual enough that she could pass it off as not being comfortable roaming the halls in a nightgown (though she doubted that would pass muster with Lee, considering that when they met in that train station she'd been wearing a nightgown under her coat, but she could always say that getting stuck on a train wearing said nightgown had changed her mind about running around strange places in sleepwear). She wasn't sure when the Doctor would show up, and she wanted to be darn sure that he didn't catch her in a clothing change.

After she finished changing, Amanda pulled a small white card out of her evening bag. It had been pressed into her hand by one of the police officers as she went to speak to the inspector (he kept his face turned away and kept moving so that she was not sure which one had given it to her). On the card was a code she'd learned back before she'd joined the Agency and which said, in effect, the Doctor was not to be discussed with anyone who didn't use the correct protocols. It was genuine, as far as she knew, though she didn't understand who had sent it or why. That more than anything else is what had kept her from telling Lee everything when they'd started back to their rooms. She leaned her head against one of the posts on the bed, thinking that if Lee ever asked her the right question she'd be hard pressed not to give him the right answer even if it meant breaking her oath. This was just wrong on so many levels. How did such a basically honest person as herself get tangled up in such a miserable web of lies and deceit?

She was startled by a whirring sound behind her. Head spinning, she saw the Doctor standing, just inside the window of the room, sonic screwdriver in hand.

"Hullo," he said, stepping away from the window, slipping the screwdriver back into his pocket.

Amanda stood up. "Hi," she said. _You'd think I'd be used to people sneaking up on me by now_. "When did you get here?"

"Just this moment," he said, gesturing behind him. "I just had to make sure you were alone. Your partner seems to like to stick to you like flypaper."

"Uh, well, I wouldn't say that," Amanda said. From a distance he still looked so young that she had a tough time connecting him to the Doctor that Sarah Jane had told her about. She walked closer to him and stared into his eyes— those very old eyes. But she had to ask, "You _are_ older than when Sarah Jane traveled with you, aren't you? I mean I wasn't talking out of turn, was I?"

The Doctor went over and sat in a chair before he answered. "Yes, I am much older than when Sarah and I traveled together. In fact what with one thing and another, I think I've managed to lose a few centuries in there somewhere, so I started over counting from 900 to make it simpler." 

A curious shadow seemed to cross his face when he mentioned losing time, Amanda noticed but decided not to press for clarification. "Over nine hundred years old?" she said instead, looking down at him. "Except for your eyes, you look so young."

The Doctor shrugged. "The older I get, it seems the younger I look. Maybe I'm trying to balance things out. Or entering a second childhood. Or more probably eleventh. I've never been able to control it really. Otherwise I'd be ginger this time. I've always wanted to be ginger." He looked around the room.

"Is it very painful?" Amanda asked. Somehow, she felt that changing everything, not just appearance but personality, had to be very painful.

"Yes," he said simply. "Well, the first time wasn't so bad. That one was natural; I'd just worn it out. The others though..." He broke off suddenly. "It's very disconcerting when you do that."

"All right, I won't ask anymore," Amanda said, getting the point, even though she didn't understand the phrasing. Searching for a change of topic, she realized she was still holding the card she'd been given. Since it was about the Doctor, she had no qualms about showing it to him. "Doctor, someone knows that you are here." She handed him the card.

He glanced at it. "Hmm. It's odd. Not really UNIT's style, but the sentiment is like them," he said, then looked at Amanda thoughtfully. "Now, Amanda King tell me everything that led you to be invited to Bromfield Hall."

"Why?" she asked, sitting down in the matching chair.

"Because... I think someone went to a lot of trouble to get you here, and I'd like to know why," he said.

"Me? Why me? That doesn't make sense," Amanda said, trying to think as she answered the Doctor's original question. "I'm not important at all; the only reason I'm in England to begin with is to act as window-dressing for Lee's assignment. The photo scandal was an accident. Or maybe not, since Lord Bromfield thinks that the whole thing was set up to discredit him. He was there because of a note from his wife which she says she didn't send. It was just a coincidence that I was there. 

"I wanted to go sightseeing, and a man outside the hotel told me about the morris dancers, so I went. It was crowded, and I was bumped into Lord Bromfield. He was very polite and informative and helped me find a better spot to watch— on top of a bench— and it was when I tripped getting down that the photographer took the photo. It was all an accident, but the papers made it look so much worse, and it's so humiliating. I wanted Lord Bromfield to publicly deny it, but he and Lee said it would be no use, so Lord Bromfield invited Lee and me here to try to make it appear as if we were old friends of the family. Apparently, that was Lady Bromfield's idea. And frankly, it's starting to seem like a pointless exercise. I wish it didn't bother me so much. But that doesn't really have anything to do with this."

"Maybe, maybe not," he said, getting up out of the chair to walk around the room examining it carefully. "After all that planning I would have expected someone to approach you to ask you to do something while you're here, and all we've got is a note telling you _not_ to do something. And since they couldn't know I would be here beforehand, it's still a mystery."

"Well, no one has asked me to do anything here, except Lee, and that was for me to stay out of trouble," Amanda said with a wry smile before asking, "Can you tell me why you are here now?"

The Doctor had nearly completed his circuit of the room. "The TARDIS picked up a distress call from... something in this area, but I haven't been able to determine exactly where it's coming from. There's something really puzzling about it. It's definitely coming from somewhere below Bromfield Hall, so it's old— very old. At first I thought it might be coming from the area of the maze, but it could equally well be coming from below the house. Anyway I've built a nice handy sniffer outer, which I was planning to use earlier but then your trouble with the photographer happened, so I haven't gotten the chance to use it yet." The Doctor paused in front of the wall beside the bed, examining it carefully. "I think this is the one," he said, moving his hands over the paneling. 

Amanda was surprised when with a click the wall popped open. "A secret passageway?" She walked over to look at the opening. "How did you know it was there?"

"All the best houses have them," the Doctor said, lightly before spinning to face her. Leaning in close, he asked her, "So Amanda King up for a journey into dark, possibly dangerous passageways to find the unknown which may or may not try to kill us."

Amanda grinned, ignoring the very fleeting thought that normally this would terrify her. "Wouldn't miss it. Besides you said it was a distress signal. Someone could need help." She went over to her suitcase and reached in for a small flashlight. "Lee laughs, but I like to be prepared," she added.

"Excellent," he said, starting to go through the passage, then he paused and stuck his head back out. "You don't happen to carry a gun, do you?"

Amanda looked at him stunned. Sarah Jane had told her how much he hated guns. "Too dangerous. Lee's the one who carries a gun. I usually have to improvise."

"Perfect, so do I," he said, pulling out what appeared to be a book from inside his jacket (Amanda wondered how it had fit) and flipped open the cover to reveal a small device. He slid his sonic screwdriver inside, attaching it to the device. "Let's get started, shall we?" He exited the room.

Feeling oddly cheerful considering how worried she'd been earlier, Amanda followed him into the dark.

* * *

Rory was surprised by how easy it was to get into the maze. He had expected a guard or tape or something, since it was a crime scene, but the gate wasn't even locked. 

"Something doesn't feel right, Amy," he said, as they walked through the maze.

"You may be right," she replied. "But we're not going back."

"I know, but what are we looking for?"

"Anything odd or out of place or alien."

" _That_ narrows it down. Do you know how to get to the middle of the maze?" Rory asked

"No, but I'm sure we'll find it," Amy said.

"If nothing else finds us first," he muttered.

He kept the flashlight low as they walked.

"Wait," Amy whispered, grabbing his arm. "I think I hear something. Turn off the light."

He did what she asked, and they stood quietly for a few moments. Finally, Rory could hear the sound of voices coming from nearby. He and Amy moved more carefully toward the source.

* * *

Amanda walked next to the Doctor, using her flashlight to light the way, while the Doctor kept his eyes mostly fixed on his sniffer outer. The passageways through the house were extensive. At the moment they were following a twisting staircase that seemed to go down beneath the Hall.

"Doctor, how are we going to find our way back?" she whispered.

"I have an excellent sense of direction."

"I hope it's improved since you dropped Sarah Jane in Aberdeen," Amanda said.

He glanced at her sideways. "She told you about that, did she?"

"I guess she told you, too. Or did you know?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, she told me. And, no, I didn't. I must admit I was a bit distracted at the time."

"So you've seen her again. She was worried you wouldn't. She'd even been afraid that you'd died."

The Doctor looked uncomfortable. "Yes, well, she was always thinking that."

Amanda knew she shouldn't ask, since the chances were she'd never be able to tell her, but she did anyway. "So how long before she sees you again?"

"How long?" The Doctor looked even more uncomfortable. 

"Yes, Doctor," Amanda said firmly. "How long?"

"A little over twenty years from now," he finally answered, while keeping his eyes fixed on his device.

"Oh, Doctor," Amanda sighed. "And I can't tell her, can I?"

"It probably wouldn't change anything," he said, still watching his device as they continued down the steps. "At least I'd hope not. Though she'd probably would have mentioned it if you told her. Or maybe not." He suddenly looked at her. "Do you even know when you do that?"

"What?" Amanda was confused.

"Get me to answer questions I don't want to answer. You really shouldn't be able to do that. You're human. Definitely human. I checked. Maybe a bit more... um..."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Doctor," Amanda interrupted, thoroughly confused. "I know I'm human. And I'm certainly not making you answer any questions. If you're telling me things you wouldn't normally say, then maybe it's because you want to tell somebody. I know I talk a lot, but I'm also a good listener. And I certainly haven't asked even a tenth of the questions I really want to ask."

"I know you haven't," he said. "But it is more than just being a good listener. Surely you're aware of it."

"I really don't understand what you mean at all. Really, I don't," Amanda said. "Watch that step." They'd finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. "Anyway, if I had this ability that you seem to think I have, I can think of a lot of things I'd rather know than you've been lying about your age."

"You have a point, but that doesn't stop it from being true," the Doctor said, checking his device then looking around. "We go this way. We're getting close. Now tell me about what you saw in the maze."

"There's not much to tell. All I really saw was a silhouette. Tall, broader than a human. Either no neck or a helmet that sloped from a point.... No, wait, I also heard a sound before I saw it. It was kind of squelchy— sort of organic and sort of metallic."

"Hmm. Did the silhouette seem smooth or rough and bumpy?"

Amanda closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember. "Bumpy, I think. I didn't have much time to look, and it was starting to get dark. Does that help?"

"Oh, yes. I think it gives me a pretty good idea of what we're looking for."

"And?" Amanda prompted.

"And we may be in deadly danger or we may not."

"So I guess it doesn't help at all."

"Of course, it helps. We know what to expect— in a manner of speaking." He kept moving along, and Amanda followed behind him.

"Which is?" Amanda asked, annoyed. Honestly, if she really had any ability to make him answer her questions, she wouldn't have to keep pressing him for an answer now. The Doctor might be brilliant, but he could also be very exasperating.

Still not answering, the Doctor turned a corner ahead and then stopped so suddenly that Amanda ran straight into him, dropping the flashlight. Leaning to pick it up, she saw what made the Doctor stop. Ahead of them standing in a doorway, she saw the same thing she'd seen in the maze earlier.


	6. Chapter VI

Rory and Amy peeked around the corner into the center of the maze. They couldn't see much, though there was a light. They heard voices: a man's and a woman's.

"Are you sure it's out here?" the woman asked. Rory thought her voice sounded vaguely familiar.

"No, but everything indicates it is," the man replied. "I can't believe we were told not to approach the King woman after all the trouble it took to set that up— just because that old fool from UNIT found out."

"That 'old fool' as you call him has had enough clout to keep us from even touching the Doctor for the past fifteen years."

"He should have been dealt with."

"He's not the kind you deal with that way. Too many contacts— too many fail safe procedures in place. Even retired, he's still too dangerous. We follow protocol. Now where is it?"

"Over here," the man said.

Amy and Rory still hadn't seen the people who were talking.

* * *

Amanda straightened up slowly, while looking at the alien which was standing in a doorway ahead of them. It was reddish orange with mottled skin, and a large domed head that ran directly to the shoulders, and rows of protuberances down the outside of its body. A deep scar ran from the top of the head to the left shoulder. Amanda stared in fascination.

"Don't move." The voice was a harsh whisper, but it sounded vaguely feminine. Amanda saw something in its— her?— hand. A weapon of some kind?

The Doctor stood still for the moment before saying. "Hi, I'm the Doctor. This is Amanda King. And we're not here to hurt you." He glanced at Amanda and whispered, "This is a Zygon," before turning back and saying in a normal voice. "What is your name? And is it your distress signal I've been following?"

The Zygon didn't move for a moment, then slowly answered with painful breaths. "My name is Hrist. I also know who you are, Doctor. You killed the last of my brethren." The last sentence was spoken matter-of-factly, but the Doctor flinched.

"They were trying to take over the world," the Doctor said quietly.

"I know. My people are— were— a warrior race. They wouldn't have surrendered." If the Zygon could have shrugged, Amanda imagined that she would have then. There was such a strong sense of indifference in Hrist's words.

"Is it your distress signal I picked up?" the Doctor asked again.

"My ship's," Hrist said. "We have been here a long time, and now it's dying— we're both dying. The signal is automatic, and I don't have the skill to turn it off. I personally am beyond the need for help."

"I wouldn't say that. I'm here," the Doctor said.

"My function was to care for the crew, and I know my time is near, Doctor."

"You are a doctor?" Amanda asked.

"Yes," Hrist said. "It is a great irony that I was the only survivor of the ship's crash so many centuries ago. I can't repair the ship. I can't stop its decay. I can only wait for it to die, and until that happens, I wish only to be left alone. I am at peace here."

"Let me help you," the Doctor urged.

"There is nothing to be done for me," Hrist insisted. "But you can keep the others from my ship. Zygon technology is not for humans. I know they are searching. I have... ears above. I think they too may have picked up the signal, and they are after my ship. They cannot have it."

Fascinated by what the Zygon was saying, Amanda had almost entirely forgotten the murder in the maze as well as the actual job she was in England for. It came back to her in a sudden wave, and it struck her that perhaps Hrist would have been in a better position to see what had happened after the murder than she or Lee. Determined to find out what she could, Amanda said, hesitantly, "Um, earlier, I saw you in the maze. A man was killed just after that. Did you by any chance see the killer? Do you know who did it?"

Hrist seemed surprised by the questions. "I saw no one. I had only just arrived before you. Why don't you ask if I killed him?"

"Why should I? I don't think you did," Amanda replied honestly. "There wasn't time. At least it certainly seemed like there wasn't enough time. I was just hoping you knew what happened. You disappeared so quickly I thought it possible you could have seen the murderer or heard something we didn't. I wouldn't tell anyone who told me. But if I knew we could probably catch them."

"I didn't see anyone. I heard footsteps, but I saw no one," Hrist replied after a few moments. "I can't help you with that." She took a step back from the doorway. "I've talked here too long. Good-bye." A door started sliding shut in front of her.

"Wait!" The Doctor said, darting forward. "At least let me help you shut down the distress signal." The door slid shut, and the Doctor pulled his screwdriver loose from his device which he stuck back in his pocket. "Deadlocked. Why are they always deadlocked sealed? I really need to find a way around that." He shook the screwdriver in frustration before examining the door and wall in front of them. "Well, we're not going to get in this way. And I'm a little concerned about those others she mentioned." He whirled back to face Amanda. "Tell me— what did you think about our Zygon friend?"

"She seems very..." Amanda searched for the right words, "resigned, but determined to protect her ship. It's very sad."

"Sad. Yes, right. So you believe her, just like that?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, yes, shouldn't I? If she was lying wouldn't she have just tried to kill us instead of locking us out?" Amanda replied, confused.

The Doctor leaned forward to look at Amanda with that searching stare that made her so very uncomfortable. "Amanda," he said, "have you had a lot of experience with aliens?"

Amanda was a bit more confused and just a bit annoyed. Was he saying that she didn't know enough to make a judgement? And if he was, then why had he asked her opinion at all? Or was it another case of what Sarah Jane had told her about: asking questions to which he already had the answer and was just showing off? And even with the Doctor she didn't intend to tell him everything, so she said, "Well, it depends on what you mean by aliens. Do you mean aliens that actually look alien or aliens in general? I mean I know a lot of aliens look just like humans, so how could I be sure if I was seeing a human or nonhuman when they look the same? I mean no one just looking at you would be able to tell that you aren't human. You just come off as an eccentric genius. I could have met dozens of human looking aliens and not known it..."

The Doctor interrupted. "Eccentric genius? Really? I don't think I look eccentric." He looked down at himself. "Distinguished. I'd definitely say distinguished." He shook his head suddenly. "And that's not really the point." His hands waved about as he seemed to get back his train of thought. "I meant nonhuman looking aliens. I'm curious."

"Oh, well, I wouldn't say I'd seen many. When I was... younger I saw what I've always called dragons. I'm not sure what they really were. And there were a couple of other strange things. And then when I met Sarah Jane..." Amanda suddenly smiled slyly, "well, the next time you see her you can ask her about that. And if she doesn't tell you, I'll tell you the next time you see me."

The Doctor stared at her for a moment and then grinned broadly. "Why, Mrs. King, that's a bit cunning. You've got me even more curious."

"Good, now we're even," Amanda said, cheerily. "Anyway, I don't see what my experience has to do with anything."

"Well, of course, you do. I've traveled with a lot of humans and even the best of them seem to have to adjust to seeing something so well... alien... to their experience, and Hrist didn't phase you at all."

"I guess having encountered the unusual when I was young got the shock out of my system at once. All I really saw was someone needing help," Amanda said before going on to the question she really wanted to ask. "Do you believe her?"

"Well, yes, actually, I do. I just wanted to get your opinion. It helps that we agree. That way if we're wrong, we get to share the blame. Now the next question is: who are those others she told us about, and what are they up to? Which is really two questions but definitely connected. And I wonder if these others are the ones who went to all the trouble of getting you here and then left you alone. And beyond that I have to wonder who's been helping Hrist as well."

"What do you mean, Doctor?"

"Well, I know how Zygon ships are constructed— grown really. Hrist probably was in suspended animation until the ship itself began breaking down which could have started more than a few decades ago. Now being the lone survivor of the ship crash— and it would have had to have crashed— she could have survived for some time on the ship's stores, but sooner or later, she'd require fresh supplies of the lactic fluid of a Skarasen— a kind of cybernetic dinosaur— of which there's only one on the planet, living in Loch Ness in Scotland, which, of course, is quite some distance from here."

"Wait," Amanda interrupted. "Are you saying that the Loch Ness monster is an alien dinosaur?"

"Well, dinosaur-like cyborg. Really big teeth. You should have seen the cast I made of them. Well, Sarah could have told you about it."

"We didn't get around to that one," Amanda said. "She mostly told me what you two did while away from Earth or in the past or the future. We kind of stayed away from the more contemporary adventures." _And I'm not about to explain all the reasons why we did that_.

"Oh, well, yes. Anyway, my point was that I think it would be quite noticeable if either a giant toothy dinosaurish thing traveled back to this vicinity and pretty noticeable if an undisguised Zygon traveled to Scotland, so someone would have to be helping her acquire the lactic fluid, either voluntarily or involuntarily. You see, Zygons have a device that they can put someone in and copy their body print, so they can look like a member of another species for a period of time. That's part of what they were doing the last time I met them. However, considering that we believe her desire to live in peace, I'd have to go with voluntary help. Also since this ship has been under Bromfield Hall for such a very long time, I'd have to say that it is highly probable that Lord Bromfield is well aware of what and who is under his home and is willingly protecting her."

Amanda was reminded of something. "You know, when you told Lee that you were _the_ Doctor, Lord Bromfield excused himself very quickly to make a phone call. So that could be how whoever sent me that note found out you were here."

"You could very well be right about that. I didn't really notice at the time. There were... distractions," the Doctor said.

Amanda didn't bother asking him what those distractions were as she followed her own train of thought. "And he seemed interested in knowing if I'd seen anything else in the maze. If Lord Bromfield has been protecting Hrist, do you think that the incident with that photographer was set up to try to pressure him in some way to reveal her secrets?"

"Could be," the Doctor said, reflectively. "Or to get you close to him so that you could get him to give away her secrets."

"But that doesn't make sense. I'd never do something like that, especially for anyone who was nasty enough to make me look like I was... ugh. And in any event, no one has asked me to do any such thing, so I still don't understand what it's all about."

"Yes, well, I don't understand it either. Unless after they set it up they suddenly had an attack of conscience— which is totally unbelievable— or they realized they misjudged your character— which is more likely— or maybe something else that hasn't occurred to me. I'll have to think about it more." He looked around again. "In any event we're not going to learn any more standing around here. Let's go."

* * *

Amy and Rory had been listening for about ten minutes. There had been a little more talk and some odd scraping noises; then everything had gone quiet in the center of the maze.

"Do you think they're still there?" Rory whispered.

"I'm not sure," Amy whispered back, "but I think we should check."

"What happens if they're still there?"

"We use the psychic paper and hope for the best."

"That's not much of a plan."

"Do you have a better plan?"

"Ummmm...no."

"Then let's go," Amy said, straightening up and walking into the center of the maze confidently.

Rory followed more reluctantly, shooting looks around with the idea of an escape route in case of trouble. He was starting to wish he'd studied self-defense as well as the latest scientific theories. He definitely had the feeling they were walking into trouble, and he wished he had a plan. They walked around the center of the maze. In the very middle was a circular area paved with flagstones with benches around the outside and a statue of Pan on a plinth. Two outdoor lamps provided the light. No one was in sight. Gazing at the area, Rory tried to figure out what had made the scraping sound they'd heard.

Amy was walking around the statue. "They had to go somewhere."

Rory felt he had to point out the obvious. "They could have exited out the other side."

"True," Amy said, "but that doesn't explain the scraping sounds we heard."

"I know."

Amy ran her hands over the statue. "There's probably some kind of secret exit out of here. And I bet the statue's the key."

"And if it was _Scooby-Doo_ , it'd be as easy as just falling on the trigger," Rory said.

Right as he finished speaking, Amy twisted something on the statue and there was a scraping noise as the whole plinth slid to one side with a scraping noise revealing a square hole. Rory shined his light down and spotted a ladder. Amy grinned at him smugly. "Just call me Daphne."

"And who do I get to be?" Rory asked, smiling back.

Amy looked him up and down speculatively. "I'd say Shaggy."

"Not Fred?"

"No," Amy said slowly. "I think Daphne preferred Shaggy. After all, he was the one with the enormous... appetite. After all, it's all in the name, isn't it?" Flashing him another grin, she started down the ladder.

Rory shook his head. If only Amy would flirt with him as much when they had time to do more than flirt. He followed her down the ladder. When he reached the bottom, he saw that the tunnels ran in three directions from the entrance. On the wall, beside the ladder, was a small lever which Amy pulled. Above them the statue slid back into place.

A series of odd looking lights ran along the roof in all directions— flat and circular, they glowed with a faint luminescence. Rory climbed up the ladder enough to take a closer look. He reached out a hand toward one; it gave off no heat and looked rather organic. At the last moment, he decided it might not be a good idea to touch it. He slid back down the ladder.

"I'm no expert, but I'd say those were definitely alien," he said cautiously.

"Well, we expected something alien here."

"Yeah, but the tunnels look normal enough. And speaking of, which way do we go? It's not like anyone has laid out a trail of bread crumbs for us. And no suggesting we split up; that can only end badly," Rory said.

Amy looked down all three tunnels, then back up at the roof as if trying to figure out their relative position. "Well," she said, looking to the right, "I think this way leads towards the Hall, and the Doctor said it could possibly be under there, so I think we should try that way first. By the way, I don't suppose you thought to bring some breadcrumbs for us to mark our way."

"No," Rory said, digging through his pockets before finally taking out a small box, "but I did bring some chalk, if that helps."

"Oh, brilliant," Amy said. "I could kiss you."

"Oh, don't let me stop you," Rory replied.

Amy grabbed him for a kiss that ended far too soon for Rory's taste and then started down the right hand tunnel with Rory right behind her. He paused just long enough to mark the wall near the floor with the chalk.

It was a really complex system of tunnels, and Rory was grateful for the chalk as they went along. He still wasn't sure what they were looking for or what they would do if they ran into the two people who had been in the maze. Somehow, he had the feeling that the psychic paper would not get them out of the trouble they'd be in. 

They hit another dead end, and Rory marked it— he was on his third stick of chalk. The tunnels were still silent except for the sounds he and Amy made as they walked along. Then suddenly he heard something. He put a hand on Amy's arm to stop her. She turned to look at him. He put a finger to his lips and motioned in the direction that the sound had come from. This time they both heard it. Light footsteps moving in the distance ahead of them. Amy started in the direction before Rory halted her again trying to indicate without speaking that it might be dangerous, but Amy was determined. 

They were at another junction. Rory bent down to mark it when he heard Amy cry out and then felt something sting his neck. He tried standing up but felt incredibly dizzy and fell forward onto the ground. Trying to keep his eyes open, he saw Amy on the floor ahead of him and someone came from the side passage. It looked like a man, but Rory couldn't see too clearly, and his eyelids felt so heavy that he couldn't keep them open in longer. He could still hear though it was starting to get more difficult.

"I've got them," he heard the man say. "Come on back."

Footsteps approached. Then the woman's voice. "Good. Pity the Doctor's not with them. We'll take the girl. He's traditionally more concerned about his female companions, and if she can't give us the information we want, I'm sure this one," Rory felt a foot hit his side, "will find a way to get the Doctor down here. Give him a second dose. We don't want him waking up too soon."

Rory felt another sting, lighter this time, and then lapsed into complete unconsciousness.

* * *

"So, I tried to explain to the Alveran ambassador that I didn't realize they were ceremonial. I mean... it was candy... right out in the open... in a big bowl," the Doctor said. "I thought they were free samples," he added as an after thought.

"And _that's_ why you had to wear a chicken?"

"The Alverans have some rather unique ideas about what constitutes an apology."

Amanda smiled. As they'd left the area where they met the Zygon, Amanda had asked about some of the adventures Sarah Jane had told her about, and this time he was happy to talk. Amanda was fascinated by every story. She knew he was steering clear of the rougher side of things, but she didn't really mind. In fact she'd been so distracted with what he was saying, she hadn't really noticed where they'd been going and suddenly realized that she had no idea where they were.

"Doctor, this isn't the way we came in," she said, looking around.

"It isn't?" the Doctor said, sounding quite surprised before shifting his tone. "Of course, it isn't. It was better to take a different route."

"Doctor, I think we're lost," Amanda said gently.

"No, we're not lost," the Doctor insisted. "We just aren't where we expected to be at this particular moment in time. But we are certainly back in Bromfield Hall proper, and it's really not that big."

"Then, shouldn't we try getting out of the secret passage? I think it might be easier to find our way around from the outside."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose. We just need to find a door and hope it doesn't lead into someone else's bedroom."

"Well, what about this?" Amanda asked as they turned the nearest corner.

"Ooh, door and peephole. Excellent!" the Doctor said, peeking through. "We're in luck; this opens into a hallway. Just let me be sure there's no one there and then we'll get out of here.... Oh, wait, I see someone."

"Really?" Amanda squeezed next to the Doctor to look through, and saw Lady Bromfield walking past— well, actually not so much walking as _sneaking_. _Why would Lady Bromfield be sneaking around her own house?_ Amanda wondered. _It's_ her _house._ However, there wasn't any time to follow that thought at the moment, so she just filed it under things that bothered her.

Once Lady Bromfield was gone, the Doctor pressed a lever next to the door, and it clicked open. He and Amanda gingerly stepped through into a darkened hallway. The door shut behind them.

"Can you tell where we are now?" Amanda asked in a whisper.

"Actually, yes," the Doctor said, staring around. "Not too far from the room you're staying in, in point of fact. Follow me."

Amanda followed him, a little uncertainly, until they got to a point she actually recognized, and then she was struck with a sudden thought. "Doctor," she said, grabbing his arm. "I locked the door from the inside before we left. Can you get it open? Because I really don't want to have to try to go back around the long way."

"Locked doors are no problem," the Doctor said brightly. "Well, unless the lock's a deadlock or made of actual wood. Which yours isn't. So as I said, no problem at all."

"Oh, good," Amanda said.

When they got to the door, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. In the surrounding quiet of the house, Amanda was now struck by just how loud it was. As the Doctor opened the door, Amanda was startled by the sight of a light suddenly appearing under the door of Lee's room.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed.

In a panic, she shoved the Doctor into her room and locked the door again. Leaning against it, she tried catching her breath, while the Doctor looked at her in confusion. All the conflicted feelings that had been pushed out of the way from the moment the Doctor had first appeared in her room were back with a vengeance, and it took an effort to get back in control.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," she said, leading him across the room. "I saw a light go on in Lee's room, and I'm not really up to trying to explain what we've been doing this evening."

"So he really doesn't know anything about... your more unusual experiences?" the Doctor asked.

"No, I'm sure he doesn't— well, at least mostly sure. When I joined the Agency, I was told not to mention any of that, and when I asked about Lee and Mr. Melrose because I really needed to know, I was told it was above their clearance levels. As far as Lee's concerned, I'm just an ordinary housewife who's gotten herself involved in intelligence work."

"So you're saying he's a bit thick then," the Doctor said.

"What?" Amanda exclaimed. "Lee's not..."

"Dense? Oblivious? I'm trying avoid calling him stupid," he said. "I mean that anyone who knows you and thinks of you as anything less than extraordinary is certainly lacking _something_."

"But really, there _isn't_ anything all that extraordinary about me," she protested. 

"And that you really believe that is the most extraordinary thing of all," he replied quietly.

Amanda shook her head. "Anyway, I'd better try to get some sleep; tomorrow I've got to go to Scotland Yard. They still have questions about what happened to the photographer. And then there's Lee's assignment. I'll need to help him with it," she said reluctantly. Never since she'd started working with Lee had she felt less like going on with the job. 

"I'll just get going then. I'm sure that Amy and Rory have managed to get themselves into some kind of trouble by now," he said turning toward the window.

"Doctor." Amanda touched his arm. He faced her again. "Don't leave without letting me know how things turn out."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied with a smile.

Amanda was about to say something else when there was a soft tapping on her door. She whirled around. "Who is it?" she asked loudly in an almost squeaky voice, though she knew quite well who it had to be. 

"It's Lee." The sound was muffled by the door.

Amanda looked at the Doctor in panic; he just quietly waved and headed for the window.

"Just a minute, Lee," Amanda said loudly, hoping that Lee couldn't hear the window opening and closing.

As the Doctor left, Amanda started for the door, then glanced at the fully made bed, and decided it was best to at least pull down the covers to at least give an indication that she had tried sleeping. Her mind was racing. She didn't know what she would do if he started asking questions. She was a terrible liar, but she hoped that a kind of partial truth telling would get her past the hurdles; if worse came to worst she'd try confusing him. But she was probably overreacting; he probably wouldn't be that curious anyway. She took a deep breath and unlocked the door. Opening it slightly, she peeked out at Lee, who looked like he'd dressed in a hurry, his shirt was partially buttoned and his hair was mussed.

"Uh, hi," she said, holding the door mostly closed, hoping this would be short.

"I heard a noise and saw the light under your door, so I thought I'd check on you," he said, looking at her with concern in his eyes.

Amanda glanced back briefly. The light. She hadn't even thought about that. When would she ever learn? She repressed a sigh.

"I'm sorry if I woke you," she said, apologetically. _Now, please, go away._

Lee showed no signs of moving. In fact he seemed to be trying to look around Amanda into the room. "Are you alone?" he asked suspiciously.

_I am now_ , Amanda thought, not daring to look away, instead saying nervously, "Alone? Of course, I'm alone. I mean, not really alone since you're standing right there but certainly alone beyond that. Why wouldn't I be alone?"

Lee simply stared at her, and Amanda realized that he didn't intend to go anywhere until he saw for himself, so she stepped back from the door and let him in. He immediately started looking around the room, even going so far as to check under the bed and in the wardrobe. The whole time he searched he kept glancing at her. Amanda looked down at herself nervously.

Noticing her sweatshirt had slipped off one shoulder, she readjusted it before speaking. "What exactly are you looking for?"

"Well, I thought I heard voices," he said, evenly. "I was concerned that you might be in trouble." He looked at her with a curious expression that Amanda could not decipher. 

_Oh, he was worried_. "Well, I can't explain the voices," _or rather I really don't want to explain the voices_ , "but I do have the bad habit of talking to myself when frustrated," _which is true, and do long conversations in my head count?_ "and I'm obviously not in trouble," Amanda said, gesturing around the empty room. "So no need to be concerned at all." _Oh, please let this be enough._

"So what are you doing up at this hour?" he asked, walking back to her and looking her straight in the eye.

_Keep it simple_ , Amanda thought. She moved away from Lee as she replied. "Well, I was having trouble sleeping, you know with everything that's happened," _and arranging to meet with the Doctor_ , "and so I just went for a little walk around the house," _through secret passageways and met another alien_. "You know this is a very large place. I got a little sidetracked trying to get back to my room, and then my door was stuck." _Locked from the inside qualifies as stuck, doesn't it?_ "It was kind of noisy to get open, wasn't it? I'm really sorry if I woke you. It was an accident." _Oh, boy, was it an accident! I really didn't want to see you until morning. Now kindly take the hint and go back to bed._ Amanda really wanted time alone to process everything and decide what to do. Nerves on edge and feeling tired, she was having a hard time keeping her thoughts focused.

Lee's expression changed. To Amanda's annoyance, he got that look, the one she hated— the exasperated professional dealing with the idiot amateur, and she braced herself, feeling if she could just get past this bit safely, she'd be able to go to bed.

"Amanda," he said, "did you think about how dangerous it could be to wander around alone in a strange house late at night when a murderer could be just waiting around any corner?"

_This is getting to be too much_. Amanda's self-control snapped for a moment and she spoke without thinking, "I can look after myself, Lee, and it's not like I was wandering around alone."

_Oops_. 

Amanda wished she could snatch those last words back out of the air. Maybe she really was an idiot amateur after all. There was no way to take the easy path now.

"Oh," Lee said, with an almost deceptive calm though that one muscle in his jaw was twitching as it always did when he was angry, "and just who were you wandering around with? No, wait. Let me guess. It was 'the Doctor,' wasn't it?"

"Yes," Amanda said evenly. "How did you guess?"

He glared at her. "I don't have to guess. You've been acting strangely ever since you first saw him in the garden this afternoon," he said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you've known him a lot longer than a day."

"Known _of_ him," Amanda corrected. _And that's technically true. Seeing him from a distance when much younger doesn't qualify as knowing him, and if I'm not going to tell him about it, I'm certainly not going to tell you. And I can't believe you actually noticed that moment in the garden._ "And I told you that. Remember? We've got a mutual friend who told me all about him. She used to travel with him a few years ago..."

"What— when he was twelve?" Lee interrupted. "He's practically a kid."

"He's a lot older than he looks," Amanda replied, wondering why that warranted the glare of death from Lee. "Anyway, my friend..."

"And who's your friend?" he asked in clipped tones.

"Sarah Jane Smith. She's a journalist I met when she visited Washington a couple of years ago. I mentioned her when we got to England," Amanda said, hoping to distract him. "At least, I'm pretty sure I did. I was hoping to get a chance to visit with her this time because last time my trip was really a surprise, and I didn't have the time, but wouldn't you know it? She's out of the country right now. And isn't it amazing how often that happens? You don't get to see someone for a long time, and when you finally a get a chance to visit their area, it turns out that they have to be somewhere else. I really..."

" _Amanda!_ " Lee interjected. 

Looking at him, Amanda was impressed with how he managed to look dazed and angry at the same time.

"I'm sorry, Lee," Amanda said, not that sorry at all and in hopes of getting him to give up and just go back to his room continued, "It's just that it's late and I'm tired, and when I'm tired, I tend to ramble, and I know it must be frustrating. I know you need your sleep, so if we could..."

"Just what did you and the Doctor 'talk' about?" Lee was clearly not going to be sidetracked.

_Why does he make talking sound so... sinister? Does he suspect what we were really up to? I almost wish he did, then I could just drop the pretense, but unless I know I just can't._ Amanda quickly ran things through in her head and focused on the parts of their conversation which as long she didn't mention specifics could safely be mentioned. "Oh, Sarah Jane, and his travels. He's a genius and a doctor of practically everything, and he's done things and been places I can't even imagine...."

"And for all you know, he could be a spy and a murderer," Lee said, irritation clear on his face. "Just because he runs around looking as harmless as a drunk giraffe, doesn't mean..."

"Oh, Lee, he's no more a murderer than you are," Amanda said and then wished she hadn't when she saw the look on his face and remembered Hrist's comments. "He's the Doctor."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Lee demanded.

"I don't know," Amanda said, really not sure what she meant herself. "Just that he's always out to help people not hurt them."

"You're awfully certain about a guy you just met, even if you'd heard about him from someone else," Lee pointed out in the same annoyed tones.

"There's just something about him," Amanda said. "I know I can trust him."

"That's _certainly_ solid evidence," Lee replied sarcastically. "So what else did you two do besides talk?"

Amanda decided to go for the strictest truth. "There was a bit of walking involved. He's very... full of energy. We kind of got lost a bit. It is a big house after all."

"Anything else?" 

Now she really was confused; she didn't really understand what he was fishing for. "I can't really think of anything worth mentioning," she said. _At least until you ask the right questions._

"You didn't invite him to your room or anything?" he finally said, looking like he was ready to explode.

_Oh, we're back to the voices again. Darn. But I'm not going to say another word about that if I can help it._ "What? No, I didn't invite him to my room," Amanda said, firmly. _He invited himself the first time, and shoving him through the door to keep him out of sight is certainly_ not _inviting him in._ "What is it you really want to know, Lee? I'm starting to get very tired, and you know we've got to go to Scotland Yard in the morning."

He stared at her for a long moment as if trying to make up his mind and then finally shook his head. "Nothing that can't wait. We need our sleep." He crossed to the door.

Amanda followed him. Just after he left the room, Lee turned back to face her where she stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame. His eyes drifted around the dim hallway, and he seemed to see something farther down the hall. An almost mischievous smile appeared on his face as he leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "I think we're being watched. Follow my lead."

"What..." was all Amanda managed to say before Lee kissed her. _He's doing this to embarrass me_ was Amanda's first thought. _He's annoyed, and this is his idea of payback; well, for once I'm not going to be the predictable Amanda he thinks I am._ Hand clutching the door frame, Amanda returned his kiss with an enthusiasm that she was sure would make him jump back in a panic (he was always so determined that she not get the wrong idea). But oddly it didn't; if anything he tightened his grip on her. Amanda had a hard time keep her thoughts coherent. It just wasn't fair that he could do that to her so easily, and she hated that he knew it too. In fact, she was sure he was counting on it. However, she was determined to stay in control, pulling back first; after all there was no need to go to too much of an extreme.

She struggled to regain her composure and was at least glad to see the smug look was gone from his face. In fact, he looked as stunned as she felt. Not being able to stand the silence that seemed to be stretching in front of them, Amanda had to say something.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stetson?" she asked, in what was meant to be a teasing voice, but to her horror, it sounded more like a proposition, and from the look on his face, it seemed he thought the same.

However, he pulled himself together and replied in a slightly husky voice, "Yes, that will be all, Mrs. King."

"Then I'll see you in the morning. Good night," Amanda said, quickly stepping back into her room and closing the door before he could say another word. 

Her legs finally giving out, she slid down to the floor, absolutely thrown by what she'd done. _Why? Why does this keep happening?_ she thought desperately. _Every time I think I'm getting over my... infatuation, something like this happens, and it's all back again. He's a good friend, and that should be enough. It will have to be enough; it's not like he'd ever willingly offer anything else. Well nothing I could accept, not without ruining what we have. Besides, he really needs a friend. And I— I need a job that makes me feel like I'm contributing to a better world. That's more important than anything else, really. And tomorrow— ooh, tomorrow. Well, I'll just have to play it like it was nothing; hopefully he'll be as eager to ignore it as I am, and I won't have to say a thing. Right now, I wish I'd climbed out the window with the Doctor. I hope he and Amy and Rory are all right. And Hrist. She seems so lost. I hope the Doctor can help her. I wish I could. And I wish I didn't have to go to Scotland Yard tomorrow. The Doctor might need my help; Lee certainly doesn't want it. I don't even know what that man wants. And I'm so tired that I'm sure I'm not going to get a bit of sleep._

Wearily, Amanda stood up and headed to the bed. Kicking off her shoes, she climbed into bed and pulled up the covers, trying to still her racing thoughts and hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder this story was finished and posted in 2012 well before the official return of Zygons in the 50th anniversary episode, "The Day of the Doctor", so any contradictions or discontinuity is for that reason. We included Zygons here because we thought they were a criminally underused monster with a fantastic design, while the less said about the realization of the Skarasen the better.


	7. Chapter VII

The drive to Scotland Yard was pretty quiet. Though generally a morning person, Amanda found that a bare four hours sleep was enough to dampen any enthusiasm. She contented herself with looking out the window at the scenery and hoping Lee wouldn't be up to talking either, since he was most definitely not a morning person at all.

"Uh, Amanda," Lee said, finally breaking the silence after several glances her way.

_Rats_ , she thought. _Quick, be prepared_. "Yes, Lee?"

"About last night..."

_Darn. Well, say something and don't let him get started on the speech._ "Yeah, about that," Amanda interrupted, "do you know who was in the hallway?" She risked a slight glance at him. He was looking a bit sheepish for some reason.

"Uh, well, no," he said.

"Oh, then I guess that made that scene a little pointless, didn't it?" Amanda broke in again.

"Not necessarily," he replied, cautiously.

"You know best," Amanda said, looking back out the window. "I just hope I did all right. I'm never sure how to react. I guess it's the lack of training; I'm never sure if I'm going overboard or not doing enough. And my nerves were really on edge last night, so I'm afraid I might have..."

"Amanda," Lee interrupted, "you did fine. Really." She stole another look at him. He had a curiously blank expression. She couldn't tell if he was relieved or irritated by her comments. He seemed to want to say something else but kept hesitating. "Amanda, you wouldn't— uh, just because you felt— you wouldn't do anything just to prove— ah, hell, I'm being ridi... silly. Never mind." He lapsed into silence.

Confused but preferring the quiet to trying to figure out what he was saying, Amanda let it pass— she wasn't sure she really wanted to know what he was asking anyway. Knowing him, it would probably end up being insulting, and she didn't think she could handle feeling insulted and guilty at the same time. 

_What are the Doctor, Rory and Amy doing right now? Are they all right? Have they finished what they set out to do? Are there really people after Hrist's ship? Can the Doctor help her? Will the Doctor even be there when we get back? What can it be like to have all of time and space at your fingertips. To set foot on an alien world, to see the past or the future,_ Amanda thought. 

Glancing at Lee, she felt guilty again. _I really should be thinking about his— our— job._ She gave herself a mental shake. _When did I start agreeing with him about it being just his job? I never do that. It's dangerous to do that. He needs my help even when he thinks he doesn't. What in the world is wrong with me? Get your mind back on the job, Amanda_ , she told herself. _The Doctor doesn't need your help— he's got Amy and Rory. It's not like he's alone. They're his companions. You're just someone who gets to meet him in passing.... What will I tell Sarah Jane?... Oh, you're doing it again; stop, focus on the job— the thing you're actually being paid to do— the thing you have the responsibility to do. There's time enough to think about the Doctor after it's all over._ Very firmly, she decided to concentrate on the case and let everything else take care of itself.

* * *

Rory slowly returned to consciousness, really wishing that he hadn't. His head felt like twenty tiny men were pounding it with hammers and his tongue like it had a tropical jungle growing on it. Something was pressing uncomfortably into his side. Gingerly, he opened his eyes and found himself staring at a wall. He was still in the tunnel. Carefully sitting up, he leaned back against the wall as he reached for the object that he had been laying on. It was a book. He stared at it for a few moments before it hit him what it really was. Opening the cover, he was not surprised to see the Doctor's tracking device inside, his sonic screwdriver attached to its side. It took a few moments more for the implications to filter through his throbbing head.

This was not good. This was very not good. The Doctor had to have been there, but Rory had woken up alone in the same spot he'd fallen. He didn't like the Doctor very much, but he knew that he wouldn't have just left him there. At the very least, he would have wanted to know what happened to Amy. And he wouldn't have left his sonic screwdriver behind. Rory got up the nerve to look around. There wasn't anything he could see. No convenient trail in the dust— the earth was too firmly packed. He didn't even know how long he'd been unconscious.

He sat there for a while trying to get his thoughts together. His head was still pounding, and it was painful to move. _All right_ , he thought. _Let's figure this out. I'm on my own. I don't know where Amy or the Doctor are. I don't know who's got them. I don't know who to trust, except Amanda King, and I don't know where she is. So at the moment I'm own my own, and what have I got?_ He looked at the book. _I've got a tracking device that I don't know how to use as well as a sonic screwdriver that I also don't know how to use._ He checked his pockets. _I still have some chalk and the bag of marbles I found in the TARDIS._ He looked around further and spotted his flashlight. _Well, I've still got that as well._ He leaned out to retrieve it, then sat back again as his head throbbed even more painfully. _Now all I need is a plan, the ability to move without passing out, and more luck than I've ever had in my life._

* * *

Amanda was beginning to wish she hadn't tried getting her mind on the job because all she seemed to be doing was putting her foot firmly in her mouth. Inspector Keaton was even getting terse, and while Mr. Newhouse (the British Intelligence representative) kept to business, she knew she wasn't showing up well to him either. Finally Lee told her to be quiet which was embarrassing enough that she didn't say anything at all when he suggested that the sex scandal had been set up to get _him_ to the Hall. It didn't make sense even to her, especially in the light of what she and the Doctor had talked about, but of course, she couldn't mention _that_. But then there were so many things that had happened that she couldn't explain.

She was more interested in whom Lee thought might be behind the accident and murders. 

"Now, there is Errol Pridemore, MI5. And Geoffrey Douglas-Wood, whoever the hell he is," Lee said. Amanda had wondered about them both herself, though she had no solid suspicions about either.

"Oh, I've already run him. We've nothing on him, except a very active social calendar," Newhouse replied.

With an odd look at her, Lee then said, "Oh, yes, and there's some guy calling himself 'The Doctor'— Dr. John Smith, apparently— who kept showing up every time I turned my back."

Amanda cringed slightly, not knowing what to say or even what to do, especially if British Intelligence suddenly wanted to know who he was. Thus, she was shocked when Mr. Newhouse very calmly replied, "Yes, the Doctor. He's one of UNIT's boffins. Eccentric but reliable. Nothing to be concerned about there." The phone next to Mr. Newhouse rang. He picked it up. "Yes.... As expected.... As soon as possible," was all he said. He looked across the room at Inspector Keaton and raised one finger slightly from the desk.

As if answering a signal, Inspector Keaton stood up. "I think I can delay the Compson inquiry twenty-hours, if that would help." He looked at Amanda. "Mrs. King, would you mind coming with me for a few minutes? There are just a few more details I need to go over with you."

Amanda looked at him worriedly and then glanced at Lee, who didn't seem at all concerned but just gave her an encouraging nod. _I'm being got out of the way— again. Otherwise, we wouldn't be the ones leaving. Well, I can't say I blame them after my performance today. I wouldn't trust me either. Maybe I would have been better off staying behind after all._ Not trusting herself to speak, she got up to follow the inspector.

After they had left Lee and Mr. Newhouse, Inspector Keaton turned to Amanda. "I must apologize for my brusqueness, Mrs. King. I must admit I don't have the patience for the twists and turns of international intrigue. Give me a straightforward case where I don't have to hold off the investigation because national secrets are at stake."

"I find it all a bit bewildering myself," Amanda replied as they walked.

"Do you?" he said dryly. "But you, at least, are more used to dealing with it. And I must say I was really quite impressed with the way you handled the interrogation of Mr. Barnhill when you were last here. You have quite the gift in getting people to talk. I would imagine that comes in quite useful in your line of work." Then with a glint of humor, he continued, "Probably only slightly more useful than your gift of speech."

Amanda blushed. "I'm sorry about running on earlier."

"Oh, don't apologize. I was quite sincere. It's much more interesting than the usual close-mouthedness of your colleagues. It takes a lot of skill to talk so much without giving anything away."

"Um, thank you," Amanda said for lack of anything else to say.

Inspector Keaton paused in front of a door. "Mrs. King, I'm to leave you here. I'm sure you're aware that the little scene in the office was to separate you from Mr. Stetson long enough for a certain gentleman to speak with you alone. You've apparently cause quite a stir somewhere along the line. But it's not for me to know. One of my assistants will take you back when your meeting is done." He opened the door.

Amanda was stunned. Really? It was Lee who was being kept occupied rather than her? She was thoroughly confused but decided to just nod and walk through the door as if she'd expected it all along.

The room in which she found herself was small, long, and narrow with a another door on the opposite end facing her. There were no windows or pictures on the plain white walls and the only furniture was a small table and two chairs. It was not that dissimilar from some of the interrogation rooms she had seen at the Agency, and it made her feel more than a little uneasy.

Suddenly, the door across from her opened and in strode a distinguished looking gentleman who walked around the table and right up her. "Mrs. King," he started. "I'm delighted to finally make your acquaintance. Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart."

Amanda shook his outstretched hand enthusiastically. "Oh, my gosh, you're the Brigadier. Sarah Jane told me all about you. Well, not all about you, naturally, since most of what you two did was classified, but I'm very excited to meet you. Are you still head of UNIT?"

"Retired, actually. Won't you please have a seat?" He held the chair for her and then sat himself at the other end of the table. "Mrs King, time is short, so I must come straight to the matter at hand. It has been brought to my attention that the Doctor is at Bromfield Hall."

He paused for a moment and, to Amanda, seemed to be searching her face for a reaction. Amanda wasn't sure what he wanted, but she saw no reason to dissemble. She knew his reputation very well, and he very probably was the one responsible for the note she had received, or at the very least, he knew about it. During her adventure with Sarah Jane, she'd learned that UNIT was a military organization whose task was to investigate the strange and the unusual and deal with alien threats against the earth. The Doctor had been their scientific advisor for a while, and that's when Sarah Jane had met and started traveling with him.

"Yes, sir," she replied simply. Though his straightforwardness had caught her a little off guard, she wasn't surprised he knew. "We met yesterday." She wasn't really sure what more to say. Sarah Jane trusted the Brigadier but said she wasn't sure about all of UNIT. She decided to wait and see what the Brigadier wanted to know before she volunteered any information.

"Excellent! Mrs. King, while I don't know precisely what is going on at Bromfield Hall, if it's gotten the Doctor's attention, it's not difficult to venture a guess. Now, I have been asked by an old friend, to whom I owe a great deal, to keep UNIT from becoming involved and to keep Torchwood at bay. While I can't do anything in an official capacity, I'm not without influence. UNIT is a simple enough matter, but Torchwood is not so easily dissuaded."

"Sir, I know about UNIT and what it does from Sarah Jane. I've never heard of Torchwood."

"Ah yes, I am not surprised. Torchwood...Torchwood is a top secret organization that was started over a century ago for the purpose of defending the British Empire against alien invasion and to do so indiscriminately. In fact, its charter specifically names the Doctor as an enemy of the state." The Brigadier's shoulders and head dropped slightly and he took a deep breath before continuing. "Some might contend that our purposes are not dissimilar but our methods most decidedly are. Please understand Mrs. King, I don't pretend that UNIT is above reproach. There are times when fear and shortsightedness have led to morally questionable actions. However, what UNIT has done by way of mistake, Torchwood does by way of practice."

"I see, I think," Amanda replied, though she wasn't entirely sure about that. However, there was one thing she needed to know. "So are you the one who sent the note?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. I got the codes to use from my... counterpart in Washington— I believe you met him, after the— uh-hmm— adventure you and Miss Smith had."

"If you're referring to who I think you are, sir, I couldn't really say that I _met_ him. Not properly, really. I'd know his voice if I heard it, though."

The Brigadier nodded. "That's who I mean. He asked me to brief you so you could be on the lookout for Torchwood's operatives. I believe that they set up the unfortunate incident with the photographer with the intention of trying to get you to assist them with whatever they plan to accomplish at Bromfield Hall. While I couldn't prevent the scandal, I was able to use some influence to keep them from approaching you. At the time, it seemed the wisest course of action, but with the arrival of the Doctor on the scene, I'm not sure that it was enough."

"That was them? Oh. Well, thank you for keeping them away from me, though I guess now I need to look for them, possibly," Amanda said, frustrated. "But... sir... I don't know who or what to look for. I can't..."

The Brigadier smiled broadly. "My counterpart told me you would say something like that. But he thinks very highly of you. He tells me you are very competent and a good judge of character, that if anyone can root out unsavory individuals, it's you. I would suspect though that the agents may be staff rather than guests and probably no more than two. There has been some slight turnover in recent months, and if anyone is capable of creating the right references, it is Torchwood."

Amanda shifted uneasily in her seat. "I really think this is something better handled by Mr. Stetson. I'm just a civilian auxiliary, he's an agent..."

"And a fine one, I'm sure, but he isn't cleared, and he has his own mission to accomplish. Therefore, I can't overstate how important it is that you tell him nothing of this."

"I still don't understand why I'm cleared."

"Because of your previous experiences, Mrs. King, and more importantly because Sarah Jane Smith said you could be trusted. For my part, that is enough."

"Thank you for your confidence, sir," Amanda said, "but I have to say that I'm really uncomfortable keeping this from Lee. I'm here working with him, even if he keeps insisting I'm window dressing. He's my partner, or I'm his. I'm not actually sure how it works really, but I do feel guilty about keeping this from him. I mean what am I supposed to do? Keep him from going back? And what if he does find out on his own? What can I do about that?"

"I know this is difficult for you, Mrs. King. However, I'm sure you understand the difficulties inherent in security. There must be much that Mr. Stetson keeps from you for national security reasons. This is the same, only it is you who has to keep the secret. I'm sure my counterpart explained it to you. If things become too obvious to conceal, it will not be your fault, and you can tell him then and _only_ then."

Amanda sighed. "I know; this is just the first time I've encountered something like this since I've joined the Agency, and well, it's hard to know where my loyalties should lie. I've never had to lie to Lee before; I mean I know I never told him about my past... adventures, but he's never asked, so I haven't had to think about it. And I know he's concealed things from me before; it's just the job to him. But this is something I never expected to have to deal with. I guess I just assumed he'd know or find out somehow."

"I understand your difficulty," the Brigadier said gently. "I'm a straightforward man myself with little patience for all this undercover maneuvering, but I've learned that some things must be kept secret, and that there are indeed some things that the world is not yet ready for. I think you know it as well. Follow your conscience and your instincts, Mrs. King. I don't think that they'll lead you astray."

The sound of footsteps and muffled voices came from outside in the hallway, distant but growing closer.

"They will be coming for you, Mrs. King. I'm afraid that this is where we must part company. It has been my pleasure." The Brigadier rose and moved toward the door from which he appeared."Oh," he turned back, "there is one last thing. I shouldn't be surprised if the Doctor may at some point require your help."

" _My_ help?" Amanda asked incredulously. "I don't see how I could be of help. I mean, he's the _Doctor_ , and he's already got Rory and Amy."

"Ah, the current companions, eh? That is all well and good, Mrs. King, but I don't know anything about them, and I do know about you. And most importantly, I've found that the Doctor often needs all the help he can get even when he won't admit it."

With that last remark, he left the room leaving Amanda feeling strangely both relieved and disquieted now that it was official that she couldn't tell Lee and no longer just her own reluctance. However, being told to just follow her instincts really didn't help at the moment. She wasn't sure what she should do.

Inspector Keaton's assistant took her back to where Lee waited. She wondered if she could convince him not to go back to Bromfield Hall, but if she did, it was highly unlikely that he'd let her go back alone, not after a near deadly accident and a murder. When she saw Lee, she realized that she'd have to convince him to take her back with him at all. He had that "I work alone" look on his face. It would take a little doing, but she knew she was more stubborn than he was.

"So, how did your talk with Inspector Keaton go?" he asked, as they started out.

"Oh, fine," Amanda said. She hadn't really expected him to ask about that. "He was actually very polite. He even complimented me on my interrogation of Connie when we were here last. It's very strange; he seems to think I'm an actual agent."

"Well, don't let it go to your head," he said dryly.

"Oh, I'd never do that," Amanda replied. _How could I with you here to remind me, every single time_? "So what do we do now?" They had now left Scotland Yard.

"Well, I go back to Bromfield Hall," he said.

There it went, that _I_ again. It was going to take some work, but she knew the way to win the argument. "You can't go back there," she said, knowing full well that he would because of his job.

"I have to. I'm running out of time."

"Ooh, I wish you wouldn't put it that way," Amanda said. She was going to have to handle this carefully.

Lee spoke with determination as they continued walking. "Amanda, the North Sea defense strategy has taken months to plan. If I don't plug that leak before the meeting in two days it's gonna end up where a lot of secret information has lately, behind the Iron Curtain."

"But someone at Bromfield Hall is trying to kill you," Amanda said, pointing out what would seem obvious to him even though she was still not sure whether it really _was_ him they were after. In any event, it would definitely hurt her chances if she pointed that out.

"Yeah, and I hope they try it again," Lee said.

"Ooh," Amanda replied. She really wished he wouldn't seem so eager about it.

"Amanda, it's what I do," he said glancing at her.

"I know," Amanda replied, stopping to look over the water. _He's all in lone hero mode now. Here comes the challenging bit_. " All right. I'll go with you." She knew exactly what he was going to say.

"No."

_Bingo_. "What do you mean, no?" Amanda protested, though this is exactly what she expected.

"No."

_Really? Just no? Oh, you are_ not _going to win this one, Scarecrow_. "No? I have to go. Lee, I'm part of your cover. If I don't go with you, how will you explain it?" she pointed out. He was always sensitive about covers. From the expression on his face she knew he was going to give in.

"All right. Strictly as part of my cover. Just background," he said.

"Right. Window dressing." She couldn't resist that. It still annoyed her that after all they'd been through he'd still say things like that.

Lee looked sheepish and apologetic. He was lucky that she understood his tendency to speak before he thought and that she needed his cooperation right now. "Now, come on, Amanda. I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

She spoke at about the same time. "Now, I know you didn't mean it. I know you didn't mean it. It's all right." This time. Now if he'd only learn to stop saying things he didn't really mean. One of these days, he might just go a step too far, and that might finally be it for her. It almost had been not that long ago. However, _this_ was barely even a blip on the radar. Besides, inside she hid a smile at the thought that right now she needed _him_ for window dressing. And in line with Lee's case, she suddenly remembered Lady Bromfield's sneaking around the night before. While she couldn't tell him what she'd seen, she could tell him her suspicions. "I think it's Lady Bromfield."

"Lady Bromfield? No, she's not strong enough to put that pike through the hedge," he said skeptically.

_That's not what I meant_. "No, I don't think she actually did it. But I think she's behind it. I just don't trust her."

"I don't know what makes me ask this, but why don't you trust her?" Lee sounded very doubtful.

Amanda searched for the right words. "It's a feeling," she said, racking her brain for something concrete she could actually tell him. Lady Bromfield just bugged her in a way that she couldn't really put a finger on. That sneaking around had seemed very suspicious, and then there was her apparent indifference to the photo scandal her husband had been caught in. Even if she trusted him completely, surely she should at least be annoyed by it.

Lee sounded even more unbelieving. "Oh, that solid, huh?"

When would he understand that she had good instincts about these things? "Mm-hm. I don't think she loves her husband." That much was at least apparent.

"Amanda, she's been married to him for twelve years. She's stood by him through this whole scandal." Lee was in fact mode.

"That's very nice. But I don't think she loves him," Amanda replied. How could he miss something so obvious? That was the only thing that made Lady Bromfield's complacency make sense.

"Amanda, no."

Why did he have to be so contradictory? Amanda finally had the details she needed clear in her head. "Lee. There's just something about the way that she looks at him. There's nothing in her face when she looks at him. She just doesn't look like she loves him. There's nothing in her eyes, and they never touch each other. Have you seen them hold hands? Or have you ever seen him put his arm around her? Or she— You know, people who care about each other." In order to demonstrate what she meant, Amanda touched Lee's arms. "You know they wanna be close to each other and... and they... uh..." Noticing the uncomfortable look on Lee's face, Amanda pulled back, remembering with instant clarity the kiss from the night before. She suspected that was what he was thinking of as well, and she still wasn't sure why he'd done it in the first place— she really didn't believe there'd been anyone in the hall at all. Working to regain her composure, she finished saying, "She doesn't touch him."

Lee still looked flushed. "No. You know, you, uh... You have some fascinating theories."

"Well, they're..." Amanda started to say but realized that insisting it wasn't just a theory would only prolong the awkwardness between them. He obviously wanted to pretend everything was normal and, frankly, so did she. So pulling herself back together, she went with the default practical approach. "Well, we can stay here all day or we can go back."

Looking relieved, Lee said, "Yeah, we better go. Come on."

* * *

It had taken Rory a lot longer than he'd like to finally get moving. Even then he still felt sick, but he couldn't just sit there any longer. He still didn't have a plan, but he had been fiddling with the controls of the Doctor's contraption enough that he felt he had a pretty good idea of how it worked. So at the moment his only idea was to try and find the source of the signal in the hopes that that was what those mysterious people were after as well or that he could at least find the Doctor there.

He moved with extra caution. For once the Doctor seemed to have developed something that didn't make loud obvious noises when it worked, and he wondered if he should be worried about that. He followed the readings down the corridors not forgetting to continue marking his path.

He wondered where Amanda King was. The last thing he'd heard from the Doctor before he'd disappeared off to meet her was that she would be going to Scotland Yard in the morning. He wished he knew what time it was and wondered if she was back yet or even if she'd gone. It would also probably help to know what she and the Doctor had managed to do the night before, and he could use an ally. However, at the moment he wasn't exactly sure the best route to take out of the corridors and whether he could ask Lord Bromfield about Amanda's whereabouts without exciting more suspicion. He continued to follow the device's directions further toward the house.

Every sound seemed ridiculously magnified as he moved along, mostly keeping his back to the wall. He really didn't want to get shot with whatever it was that they'd shot him with again. Finally, as he started drawing nearer the source of the signal, Rory heard voices. Cautiously, he moved towards the sounds. There was a heavy grilled door down one of the corridors. Rory shook his head. Bromfield Hall wasn't old enough to have a dungeon, surely. But it didn't matter. He moved closer to the door trying to hear what was being said. He recognized the two voices from earlier. Carefully, he tried to get closer to the opening without the risk of anyone seeing him.

"Come on, Doctor," the man said. "You don't really expect us to believe that your arrival here at this time is just a coincidence."

"Well, yes," Rory heard the Doctor say. "It's almost always a coincidence. Surely, you know that much about me. I just seem to find trouble. Or trouble finds me. We're like the opposing poles of a magnet. I can't really help it, you know."

Rory risked getting closer now. He could just see into the room. Amy and the Doctor were tied up next to the back wall facing the door. Amy looked unconscious. At least he hoped she was unconscious. Well, of course, she was unconscious; they wouldn't have her tied up otherwise. He could just see the backs of two people— a man and a woman. The woman looked familiar, and it took him a few moments to realize that she was the maid that had taken him back to Amy after he'd examined Lee Stetson. The man he didn't recognize at all. He took one step closer and caught the Doctor's eye. At least he was pretty sure the Doctor saw him before he ducked back down to avoid being spotted.

"Well, with your natural ability to find trouble," the woman said, "I'm certain you've already found what we're looking for."

"You haven't really explained what you're looking for," the Doctor said, and Rory had the impression that the Doctor was speaking for _his_ benefit. "I don't know what you expect us to be doing. I was just trying to find a nice quiet place to take my companions. And then you just drug us and drag us down here. And I don't think Amy is really appreciating nap time."

"Well, we can't help differing metabolic rates, can we?" the woman said. "She'll wake up in time and probably wish she hadn't. Now to get back to our point, Doctor. A mysterious signal starts up, and _your_ old friend Lethbridge-Stewart who just happens to also be a friend of Lord Bromfield's starts interfering with Torchwood in order to get us to back off, and that's just a coincidence?"

"Yes, it's just a coincidence. I haven't even spoken with the Brigadier in— oh, I don't know how long. Wait, were you planning on involving Amanda King in some way with whatever you're doing here?"

"And you still claim you don't know anything."

"Yes, that's what I call making inferences. Amanda was a bit peeved about the whole picture mess, and it clearly was an overly elaborate setup by somebody, and Torchwood does seem to enjoy being convoluted. The part we couldn't figure out is why anyone would set her up and then not do anything about it. I'm not even sure how you expected to get her to help you. It's not like she's British, so it's not likely she'd be moved by the idea of Queen and country. And I didn't expect my old friend to be the reason why you didn't follow up. He can be cunning when pressed. Not that he likes to be pressed."

"Listen," the man said, angrily. "You'd better start cooperating. You aren't one of the prohibited Doctors, mate, and if we don't bring back what we've been looking for, then I'm sure they'd be happy to have you instead."

"There's nothing I can tell you. And what do you mean I'm not one of the prohibited Doctors?"

"Our deal with UNIT is that we can't touch any version of you that's an official scientific advisor. Admittedly, It's a bit of a gray area, but we excel at the gray areas," the woman said. "So I'd advise you to cooperate."

"There's nothing for me to cooperate with. We really were just looking around."

"Well, Doctor," said the woman, in saccharine tones,"then just tell us what you and Amanda King were looking around at last night."

"What makes you think we were looking around at anything?" the Doctor asked.

"We had her roomed bugged, and then _suddenly_ every listening device crashed at once. And trust me, our bugs are more sophisticated than anything her spy friend has dealt with; the listening devices in his room are still active, so clearly he didn't do anything about it."

"Oh, that, we were just chatting, but I do dislike having my chats listened in to. People have a hard enough time following me when we're in the same room, much less if they're on the other end of a microphone. It's just too much trouble."

"If you two were just chatting, then how is it you ended up back outside her room two hours after the bugs went down. Don't forget, we know when her partner got up."

"Did we really?" The Doctor managed to sound genuinely surprised. "I just can't really recall a single thing about that. You know you get so involved with something that you don't really pay attention to what you're doing, and before you know it you're in the middle of a field contemplating Newtonian physics. And you know I'm not as young as I was; well I look younger, but at my age the memory's really tricky. I'm just lucky I still have my fashion sense."

"Come on, Molly; let's just grab the King woman and be done with it," the man said impatiently. "It will be at least half an hour before his companion here wakes up. And he isn't going to say anything worthwhile without the right form of persuasion."

"You're right," Molly said, and then paused. "She should be back by now. And she's a tender-hearted thing. I'm sure it will be much easier to get her to talk."

Rory edged backwards, convinced that the best thing to do was to warn Amanda that these people were after her. It sounded like the Doctor and Amy were safe for the moment. He wasn't sure what would happen if they got them all together, but he didn't really want to find out. He knew that he had to be closer to the house than the maze and decided to follow the tracker on the chance that it would lead him out a nearer way. He knew it was a long chance, but he figured it would probably take him just as long following his marks. He just hoped his luck would hold out and that he would find her before they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we have the official appearance of one of my favorite Doctor Who characters, Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart. And another reason for our referencing the UNIT dating controversy. For non-Who fans, UNIT originally stood for United Nations Intelligence Task force, which ended up being changed to the Unified Intelligence Task Force in the new series.


	8. Chapter VIII

Amanda entered the small library with an annoyed sigh. She knew full well that Lee sent her there to get her out of the way, especially when he deliberately turned on the charm to get her to agree, and she couldn't believe that he thought she believed him about the importance of Lady Bromfield's impeccable bloodlines. 

Just how gullible did he think she was? Or was it susceptible? Oh, it really wasn't fair at all, but at least she could take private satisfaction in knowing what he'd been doing and that the real reason she'd agreed was that she had another job to do and that the small library might have something to help with that. 

She was also relieved that she'd finally convinced Lady Witherspoon that nothing really scandalous had occurred between her and Lord Bromfield. Though the scandal was starting to seem unimportant to her, it was a relief to not have to keep dodging the inquisitive old lady, and Lady Witherspoon had helped confirm her feelings about Lady Bromfield, so she felt a bit grateful to her for that.

Looking at the shelves, for the sake of form, Amanda glanced at a book on genealogy that she found before looking for what she really wanted, which was a history of Bromfield Hall. Finally finding one, she carried it over to a high-backed chair and started searching through it for any mention of secret passages or historical monsters. She had just reached a section that looked like it would be helpful, when she heard the door open behind her.

About to make her presence known, she froze when she heard the voices of Errol Pridemore and Geoffrey Douglas-Wood. She was shocked to hear them so casually discussing murder and treason, especially without checking to see if the room was empty first. Grateful for the ridiculously high back of the chair which hid her from view, Amanda tried to remain as quiet as possible, while hoping that they continued to believe they were alone. Apparently, Pridemore was responsible for the deaths of Ransome and Compson and was working with Douglas-Wood to steal the North Sea strategy. She didn't know whether to feel complimented or horrified that they believed her to be as much of an agent as Lee and thus worthy of elimination. 

When they left the room, Amanda waited half a minute before going to the door. She tried the handle; it wouldn't open. She pulled at it futilely for a few moments before a noise from behind her made her whirl around, grabbing the first thing she could find on the desk as a blunt object. One of the bookshelves swung open. Amanda stood back, weapon ready to swing when she saw who was coming through the door.

"Rory?" 

"Amanda!" he exclaimed a bit breathlessly. "I didn't think I'd actually find you. There are these two people, a man and a woman. I didn't recognize the man, but the woman's a maid here. They've got the Doctor and Amy, and they were talking about getting you to find out what you and the Doctor did last night. I had to warn you. They're probably coming right now."

"Oh my gosh! And I've just heard two spies plotting to kill Lee and me. I've got to warn Lee, but I can't get this door open," Amanda said, going back to struggle with the door. She heard someone coming. "Quick! Hide." She stood next to the door, weight in hand as it opened and just barely avoided hitting Lord Bromfield as he came in. "Don't close it!" she shouted as the door swung shut.

"Mrs. King, what on earth is the matter?" he asked.

"I don't know. The doorknob's broken; it turns but the door won't open."

Lord Bromfield said, "Look, it's perfectly all right."

"No, it's not all right," Amanda said breathlessly. "They're gonna murder Mr. Stetson."

"Murder?"

"Yes. I don't have time to explain. I just have to get out," Amanda said

"One moment. Look, it's an ancestor's idea of a joke. It's a spring device here. _Handel's Works_." The door opened.

"Thank you very much" Amanda dashed out of the room and then popped back in. "Where do Mr. Douglas-Wood and Mr. Pridemore stay?"

"First floor. First room to the right."

"You better show me," Amanda said, following him before popping back in again. "Rory!"

He came out from where he'd been hiding.

"Yes?"

"I'll be right back as soon as I've warned Lee. Then we can figure out what we need to do."

"Right. OK."

Amanda disappeared back out again and followed Lord Bromfield to the stairs, where she saw Lee coming down.

"Amanda—" he started.

She didn't have time for this so she interrupted. "I was in the library and I heard them. They're gonna kill you, and they're gonna kill me, and then they're gonna steal the plans for the North Sea defense strategy."

"Who'd you hear?" Lee asked.

"Pridemore and Douglas-Wood. They're in it together. I was reading a book—" Amanda said.

He looked incredulous; maybe he hadn't thought she bought it, after all. "I just sent you there to get you out of my hair."

"You did what?" Amanda asked. _You think I didn't know that? I really don't have time for this._

Lord Bromfield picked this time to break in. "What on earth is going on? I demand an explanation, one way or the other."

Lee ignored him. "Where are they? Still here?"

"I think so," Amanda said. After all, it had only been a few minutes.

"All right, you did real, real well, Amanda. You stay out of this. Let me wrap it up, okay?"

"Right," Amanda replied. She really needed to get back to Rory.

Lee started down the stairs, and that's when Amanda saw Pridemore and Douglas-Wood. They must have heard at least the last part, considering the looks on their faces.

Lord Bromfield was the first to speak. "Gentlemen, certain serious allegations have been made. Now, what is all this about North Sea defense strategy? I demand an explanation!"

The two men said nothing, but glanced up. Amanda noticed Lady Bromfield coming down the stairs. Lord Bromfield turned to look and that's when Douglas-Wood punched him.

"Geoffrey!" Lady Bromfield exclaimed, as the two men started running.

Lee started chasing, as Amanda stood frozen for a moment trying to decide what to do.

"Oh, Gwyneth," Lord Bromfield said, in a disappointed tone.

Amanda made up her mind and started down the stairs. "Call Inspector Keaton," she said to Lord Bromfield.

"Yes, of course," he said abstractedly, still looking at his wife.

Amanda could only hope he heard her as she ran for the front door where she caught up with Lee.

"All right, you stay out of this," Lee said.

"Stay out of it?" Amanda asked incredulously. _I'm your partner_.

"Yeah, what are you gonna do if you catch them?" Lee asked condescendingly.

_There it is again, and oh my gosh, Rory. I've got to get back to him. The Doctor and Amy are in danger,_ Amanda took a breath as she decided. _Well, Lee, you're finally going to get your wish. I'm going to do exactly what you've told me to do._ However, all she said was "right" as he dashed after the two men.

Turning back to the house, she ran back towards the library. Lord Bromfield was no longer in the hall, so she guessed that he'd gone to call Inspector Keaton. Now, she wished she'd told him about the other things that were happening. He had to be the friend that contacted the Brigadier, but she didn't have the time to look for him now. She headed straight for the library where Rory was still waiting. 

"Ok, Lee's handling his bit," Amanda said, repressing her qualms about leaving Lee, even if that's what he wanted. "Now, we need to figure out what we should do."

"I'm not sure; I just know that they are after something here, and they think the Doctor can lead them to it. Or you, depending on what you and the Doctor found out last night."

"Hmm, you said two people. They're probably the Torchwood people that the Brigadier told me about this morning."

"Who's the Brigadier?" Rory asked. "They mentioned him."

"An old friend of the Doctor's. He used to be in charge of UNIT here in England. The Doctor was their scientific advisor a few years ago— current time. I think it's been a lot longer for the Doctor."

"Yeah, they said something like that. And they're definitely Torchwood. What is it that they're after?"

"Well, I can't be sure, but I would guess it's the Zygon ship that's buried under Bromfield Hall. Or maybe just the Zygon herself. Or both. I can't be sure. The Doctor and I met her last night while we were wandering around. I haven't seen the ship, but it's what was emitting that distress call the Doctor picked up. I don't really know how to find either of them. The Doctor used this thing he built."

"You mean this?" Rory pulled out the Doctor's tracker.

"Yes, that. But we never made it to the ship. We just met Hrist— that's her name. I have no idea how to find her again, though she seemed well aware of what was going on. Now, do they know you're running around loose with the Doctor's stuff?"

"Actually, I think they've forgotten all about me," Rory said.

"Good. That's a mistake in our favor. They're underestimating you."

Rory couldn't help a slight smile. "It'd be better if I knew what to do about that."

"Me too." Amanda leaned against the desk. "What we definitely need to do is keep you out of sight. That way if they catch me, you'll still be free to act."

"But how?"

"We'll figure it out as we go," Amanda said with a confidence she didn't feel. "Maybe if they find me, you can follow us." There was the sound outside the door. "Quick, hide again just in case."

Rory hid in the chair with the ridiculously high back.

The door to the library opened, and in came Lady Witherspoon. "Oh, there you are, young lady. I was wondering where you'd gone off to. I just saw your Mr. Stetson riding off after Geoffrey Douglas-Wood. It all looks very exciting."

"Oh," Amanda said lost for words again. She seemed to be suffering from that lately. "I'm sure that is. Was that why you were looking for me?" She had the oddest feeling that something was about to happen and she hoped that Rory would stay hidden, even though she felt that Lady Witherspoon was harmless.

"Not entirely, my dear," the woman said. "I was given a message to give to you."

"Really? What is it?" Amanda asked.

"Yes, I think we'd all like to hear that," a voice came from the secret panel.

Amanda turned and saw a dark-haired man in tweeds holding what looked like a very small gun pointed at her and Lady Witherspoon. She was relieved to realize that Rory couldn't be seen from either angle. _Rory be careful now_ , Amanda thought. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I think you know that, Mrs. King," he said, in a sinister undertone. "I'm sure between the Doctor and the Brigadier you know all about who we are and what we want."

"I don't know what you think you're doing, young man. But I suggest you put away that thing and stop talking so foolishly," Lady Witherspoon interjected.

The man just held the gun more firmly. "Not likely." He looked at Amanda and stepped away from the door. Amanda kept her eyes on him, hoping that he didn't move too much farther into the room, or he'd be sure to spot Rory, and that would not be good. He gestured toward the passageway. "Now, Mrs. King, you've got an appointment, and I'm afraid you're going to have to tag along, Lady Witherspoon. Maybe we can discuss that message of yours as well."

Amanda walked carefully towards the passage, keeping close to the wall. She wanted to keep the man's focus on her rather than the rest of the room. "Well, can you at least tell me your name? Or a name? It's kind of awkward to think of you as 'Anonymous Torchwood Agent.' I mean it really doesn't seem polite at all, even if you're pointing a gun at me. So what should I call you?" She was standing in the entrance of the passage now.

Lady Witherspoon had followed behind her quietly, looking more amused than anything else but remaining silent.

"Dirk will do as well as anything else. At least it's the name I've been using here," the man said and then added with an exaggerated air of politeness. "Now if you two would so kindly enter here, and we'll be on our way." 

Lady Witherspoon stepped forward next to Amanda and tripped against the edge of the carpet. Dirk grabbed her arm, keeping his gun trained on her. "Watch it, old woman," he said, pushing her away. "Now get moving: you first, and then you, Mrs. King."

"If you insist, Mr... Dirk." Amanda started down the passageway after Lady Witherspoon, and then to continue to try to keep him focused on her rather than either Lady Witherspoon or anything Rory did behind them, said, "I just don't understand what it is you think that I can tell you. I mean I only met the Doctor yesterday, and we really only chatted. I mean I heard about him from a mutual friend, so I naturally had a lot of questions for him. Wouldn't you try to find out everything you could about such an amazing person?"

"Stop playing the innocent, Mrs. King. We know all about you. Probably a lot more than that partner of yours. Tell me, how much fun have you had with the fact that he has no idea what you've really done and what you're capable of? Is it hard keeping a straight face when he treats you like you don't know what's going on?"

Amanda's expression went blank for a moment as she tried to pull her thoughts together.. "I don't know what you mean. I'm an amateur. I've always been an amateur. I'm not sure what you've been told about me, but it can't be as accurate as you seem to think. Sure I've had a few unusual experiences, but I haven't done anything at all out of the ordinary. I just sort of keep getting pulled in. And, if you're referring to the incident in Washington, you should know I just followed Sarah Jane Smith's lead there. She's the extraordinary one, not me."

"Come off it, Mrs. King. We know exactly what your part in all that was, and it wasn't just as an innocent bystander either. Do you want to talk about the milk man, Mrs. King? That certainly wasn't Miss Smith's doing."

"I don't really want to talk about it at all, actually," Amanda said flatly. "It doesn't really matter if you know about it; it's just something I don't like to talk about, especially with someone who's pointing a gun at my back. Where are we going anyway?"

"Down to see your friend the Doctor, of course," Dirk said.

"I hope the light's good down there, young man," Lady Witherspoon said. "These eyes aren't what they once were. And I still think you're being very foolish. I may be old, but I'm not nobody, you know."

"Oh, don't worry, Lady Witherspoon. When this is all over, we'll make sure you don't remember a thing. That's one of the nice benefits Torchwood has."

* * *

Rory swallowed hard. It had been a couple of minutes since the Torchwood agent had taken Amanda away, but it seemed much longer. He had virtually no idea what was actually going on, he had no plan, and nothing to work with other than the small electronic device he now held. He wondered if, minus the panic, this was how the Doctor felt all the time.

He wasn't a hero; he barely qualified as a sidekick. Amanda, however, had absolute faith in him, and even if he didn't know exactly what he was going to do, he was going to do what he could to not let her down.

Carefully, Rory peered around the chair. Satisfied he was now alone in the room, he bounded from where he had concealed himself and hastened to the secret panel. He listened for a moment before swinging the book shelf out just enough to slide into the dark passageway.

He moved along the corridor as swiftly as he dared, staying close to the wall and taking care to be quiet. Soon, he could make out faint voices and followed them until he found himself outside the same room where, only minutes ago, he had discovered the Doctor and Amy captive.

From his vantage point, he could see Amanda and Lady Witherspoon next to the Doctor. Amy was sitting against the wall, her head in her hands, apparently conscious, but not taking an interest in anything around her. If she felt anything like he did when he woke up, Rory suspected that she wouldn't be too coherent for a while yet. But she was alive; that was the important part.

Dirk paced menacingly in front of the quartet, focusing almost exclusively on the three who were standing. "I know enough about you Doctor to understand that it would be a waste of my considerably valuable time to try to... extract information from you. However," he turned his attention to Amanda, "I have higher hopes for you, Mrs. King."

"Well, the problem is that while I'm very willing to talk, I just can't tell you want you want to know. I mean you seem to think I know things that I just don't know, or at least, I don't know what it is that you think I know, but I'm sure I probably don't know it anyway. You all just seem to think I know things when I don't know them. And no one has even told me what is it is they think I know about," Amanda said in almost a single breath. 

"Don't try playing mind games with me," Dirk demanded.

"She's not playing games," the Doctor interjected, stepping close to Amanda. "That's how her mind works. It's not her fault if you can't keep up," he added as though he was being forced to state the self-apparent to the oblivious.

Dirk's lip curled into a sneer and his hands tightened into fists. "Enough! You are going to tell me everything I want to know or..."

"Yes, that is enough," Lady Witherspoon said slowly and deliberately but it didn't really sound like her. Everyone turned to look at her, except Amy who was still sitting staring at the floor. Her whole countenance had changed. Her face was uncharacteristically stern; her eyes bereft of emotion, perhaps even a bit sinister. She took a deep, ragged breath and spoke again, only this time, her voice was a gurgling hiss, "They cannot help you."

"You shouldn't..." the Doctor began.

"Too late; this will be better," she said. Her form shimmered and changed. 

Amanda immediately recognized Hrist, though there was something different about her. She looked— shriveled was the only word that came to mind— and there was a markedly greater greenish tint to her skin which seemed unhealthy, though Amanda couldn't be sure since she knew nothing about Zygon physiology.

Dirk rapidly backed away a few steps.

"What is the matter, human?" Hrist whispered. "You seem surprised. Surely, you had an idea of what you were looking for." To Amanda it seemed that her breathing was raspier than before.

Molly pushed her way past Dirk. "Oh, we did have some idea." She clasped her hands together and grinned excitedly. "But I didn't dare to hope we'd get a live specimen."

"You won't have me for long, human," Hrist snarled. Her chest heaved spasmodically and she closed her eyes, obviously drained by her surge of defiance. After what seemed like a long time she said, "I am dying. My technology cannot help me. My only hope is that you will use it to destroy yourselves."

"Then you should have no problem with taking us to your ship," Molly said matter of factly.

"I will take you," Hrist replied flatly.

Puzzled, Amanda stared at Hrist. While she believed her when she said she was dying, Amanda was sure Hrist had something in mind other than handing over her technology. Something wasn't right here.

Dirk moved alongside the Doctor and Amanda. "Then let's get going." He motioned to Amy with his gun. "All of us. You two help her."

The Doctor's eyes moved from Dirk, to the weapon and back to Dirk again. "Oh, by all means. Let's not break up our happy party now." He and Amanda each took Amy by an arm and, with some effort, got her uneasily to her feet.

"This isn't right," Amanda whispered. "Hrist is up to something."

"Exactly what I was thinking."

"Come on." Dirk gave the Doctor an impatient shove. "Move!"

"You know you really should watch that temper," the Doctor said. "It really could end up making this take longer if you knock us off our feet."

Amanda looked at Amy who was swaying between them. "Are you all right?" she asked softly.

Amy lifted her head slightly, eyes unfocused, and said, groggily, "Sure, I just dropped the Scooby Snacks in the maze."

Amanda looked over Amy's head at the Doctor with an inquisitive expression, and he shrugged nearly imperceptibly.

"Just keep moving," Molly said.

Amanda tightened her grip on Amy's arm, hoping that she'd soon shake off the effects of whatever drug had been given to her. She watched Hrist carefully, trying to determine exactly what the Zygon had in mind. As far as she could tell, they were moving away from the house, which didn't necessarily mean anything as she had no idea just how big the Zygon ship was or even how near she and the Doctor had actually gotten to the ship last night. A deadlock bolt didn't necessarily mean that they had been right next to the ship's entrance. She couldn't even vouch for the accuracy of the Doctor's device.

"Doctor, what do you think Hrist is doing?"

"She's a Zygon, so it's probably lethal. What we really need is some kind of distraction so _we_ can do something less lethal."

Amanda cast a cautious glance over her shoulder at Dirk and saw, at a distance, Rory slinking up behind them. Their eyes locked briefly, but it was long enough to assure him that she knew he was there.

"Rory is behind us," Amanda muttered.

The Doctor arched an eyebrow and half smiled. "Hmmm... yes, that should be less lethal," he whispered. Then in a louder voice, he said, "I have to say, Hrist, even in the midst of current circumstances, I'm actually quite anxious to get to your ship. I haven't been aboard a Zygon vessel in a very long time. Of course, circumstances weren't that good then either."

"If I recall aright," Molly said mockingly, "you blew up their ship."

"Well, that's not entirely my fault. It's the organic structure. So many knobs and protuberances all over the place. So easy to hit something and cause all manner of chaos, unintentionally really. I mean the safety features just aren't what they should be. Organic crystallography is tricky stuff."

"Not that tricky, Doctor," Hrist said calmly, "for those who know how to use it." They'd walked to what looked like a plain wall. Hrist placed her hands against it and a door slid open, revealing a much more organic looking corridor lit by a sickly green light.

"Now this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about. Are you absolutely certain you want to go in there? The bioluminescence on these Zygon ships is simply substandard. Makes it hard to see where one is going or what one is doing. It's unsafe and generally creepy."

"Doctor," Molly set her jaw, "I would normally find this mildly amusing but right now I need to focus and will thank you to be quiet."

"I'm just saying it's very dark in there and if someone were to bump into a bunch of random switches," the Doctor cast a furtive glance toward Rory, "it could result it all sorts of distractions and whatsits. Don't you think so, Amanda?"

"Definitely, Doctor." She looked at Molly. Beyond her, she could just glimpse Rory, and she decided to work to make sure the Torchwood agents' focus stayed ahead rather than behind them. "I don't know why you're complaining. After all, you're the one who wanted the Doctor to talk, and now that he's talking (and I think what he's saying is very useful) you want him to stop. _I've_ never been in a Zygon ship before, and frankly, I'd like to know what it is I'm seeing. I'd hate to accidentally make the ship explode just because I haven't been told what to expect inside. I'm not exactly the most graceful person, and it would be too easy for me to trip over something because I get even more clumsy when I'm nervous, and here, we've got Amy to worry about too..."

"SHUT IT!" Dirk yelled.

"Well, you don't have to be rude about it," Amanda said.

"Quite right," the Doctor added. "You're just like a very unpleasant fellow I met in the Arctic, all brawn no brain."

"I don't have much time," Hrist said with some difficulty. "Doctor, you are prolonging this needlessly. Just... follow me."

"My sentiments exactly." Molly motioned toward the door. "Lead on. And you keep a very close eye on them, Dirk."

Rory watched Hrist lead them on into the ship. _Yes, Dirk_ , _please keep a_ very _close eye on them_ , he half-thought, half-prayed as he moved up behind them as quietly as he could. He knew he was getting dangerously close, but for all he knew, the door would close automatically, and if he lost sight of them inside the ship, he might not find them again before it was too late, if at all.

It was difficult for Rory to see anything in the low light, and it was for this very reason he followed more closely now.

"Take me to the ship's primary control room," Molly snapped.

Hrist said nothing in reply but a heavy, wheezing sigh conveyed her compliance. Several twists and turns later they arrived at a large open room. It was better lit than any other part of the ship they had transited. The floor was perfectly smooth but the walls were like rock and in its center, was what Rory assumed to be a control panel of some sort, though it looked more like a giant mangled tree stump.

Hrist positioned herself in front of the panel. "The control room," she said flatly without turning to face Molly.

"Excellent," Molly said as she stepped forward and leaned over the panel, scrutinizing its features with keen interest. She extended a hand tentatively but stopped short and cast a wary look at Hrist. 

Dirk keeping his eye on the Doctor, Amy, and Amanda gestured for them to towards the farther wall. When they reached it, the Doctor and Amanda let go of Amy's arms. Still not really focused on events, Amy slid down against the wall and put her head back in her hands again. Amanda took a step towards Dirk before he halted her with a gesture.

"Don't say a word," he threatened. 

Amanda froze, but looked over to where Molly and Hrist were by the panel. Hrist looked worse than ever.

"It...is not...dangerous," Hrist choked out as she placed both hands on the console.

"Good. I'll require all the ship's technical specifications, access to your computer systems, and a capabilities demonstration would not be amiss."

"I...I will...not live that long."

"That's too bad. I was hoping to spare our technical personnel some effort. Still, we'll figure everything out."

"Yeah, well, let's figure it out in a hurry," Dirk barked. "This whole setup is making me nervous. I don't trust this..."

"Hrist?" A strange voice called from somewhere in the ship. "Hrist, where are you?" The voice grew closer and the accompanying footsteps grew louder until, from a doorway adjacent to the center console, Lady Witherspoon emerged.

"Hrist? What is all this? What's going on?" Lady Witherspoon asked, seemingly oblivious to the weapon trained on her.

"It doesn't matter. It will soon be over," Hrist said reassuringly.

"Indeed, it will," Molly purred. "I don't know what you're doing down here, but it was very considerate of you to join us. This will spare us the effort of dealing with you later, and no one will ever know where you went. Personally, I doubt anyone will care."

"Hrist?"

Instead of answering, Hrist turned and looked directly at Amanda. "I heard what you said...in the...library. You were right."

"About what?" Amanda asked, clearly confused.

"Their mistake. They underestimated your friend." Hrist moved her eyes to Dirk and stared at him hard. "Especially, this one."

Dirk shifted uneasily on his feet and tightened the grip on his gun. "Underestimated? Underestimated who? Who are you talking about? What friend?!"

"ME!" Rory yelled.

In a single motion, he rounded the corner and swung the bag of marbles in his hand with all the force he could muster. He connected squarely with Dirk's jaw and the bag split open, sending marbles flying across the room. At the same time, Hrist pushed Molly back from the control panel, then leaned heavily against it as she watched Dirk hit the floor unconscious, his gun skidding towards Amanda. Rory hurried across to Amy who watched woozily from her spot on the floor.

"Good job, Rory!" Amanda exclaimed, picking up the gun gingerly, unsure of what to do with it. 

While Amanda held the gun dangling from her hand, Molly rose from the floor and, with surprising speed, drew a small handgun from within a fold in her skirt. She grabbed Lady Witherspoon from behind and pressed the barrel into her back. "Drop it, Mrs. King, we all know you can't use that." Frustrated, Amanda dropped the weapon to the floor, as Molly continued, "All of you back away! And you, Hrist, is it? Shall we pick up where we left off?

"Yes. A...capabilities demonstration." Hrist placed her hands on two protrusions on the control panel. "Molecular dispersal."

"No, don't!" the Doctor called, as Hrist gave the controls a sharp twist.

"Again, too late," Hrist said as she turned around, pushing Lady Witherspoon sharply away from Molly's gun. 

As Molly fell back, her hand reflexively tugged at the trigger; the shot hit Hrist squarely in the chest. Then Molly and Dirk just seemed to disappear from the room almost as if they'd never been there at all. Lady Witherspoon lay on the floor where she fell near Amanda who helped her up, while Rory and the Doctor ran to Hrist, who had staggered forward a single step before collapsing.

Rory pulled off his jacket, dumping out the Doctor's book device before pressing it against the wound. "Doctor?" he asked shakily. 

The Doctor grabbed his sonic screwdriver from the ground and scanned the Zygon, then shook his head at Rory. Amanda hurried up to Hrist's side, Lady Witherspoon beside her. 

"Hold on," Amanda said, placing a hand on her face.

"I fear...I fear...I...cannot," Hrist said weakly. She looked at Lady Witherspoon. "Thank you..." She took a few rapid, heavy breaths and went still. Rory and Amanda looked up at the Doctor.

"She's gone," he confirmed, before turning to Lady Witherspoon. "Your Ladyship..."

"Hrist told me all about you," she cut him off. "You won't let them find her," she fixed him with a steely gaze, "will you?"

"No. I won't," the Doctor said firmly. "Amanda. Rory. Lady Witherspoon. Step over next to Amy." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial. "Rory, go ahead and give this to Amy; it should clear the rest of the drug out of her system."

Rory took the vial and walked over to Amy. Sitting next to her, he helped her drink the liquid. She shook her head and started looking around more clearly.

"Doctor, what are you going to do?" Amanda asked.

"Molecular dispersal," the Doctor replied tersely. "It's primary use is to prevent dead Zygons from falling into the hands of their enemies. In fact, I'm not quite sure how she used it on those two. Somehow, she must have managed to place triggering devices on them without their knowing it, or she never could have done that so precisely." He walked over to the panel and giving Hrist one last look, twisted the controls. In seconds the body vanished as completely as the two Torchwood agents had.

"Now," the Doctor said, continuing to manipulate a series of controls, "your Ladyship, would you please be so kind as to escort everyone out of the ship? Zygon technology isn't that tricky but the door locks take a little getting used to."

"Of course. I could get through this ship in my sleep. Come to think of it, I have on a few occasions. Rory, Amy, Amanda," she motioned them all to follow.

While Rory helped Amy up off the floor, Amanda asked the Doctor, "What about you?"

"I'll be along once I'm done here," the Doctor said, waving his arms around. "I just have to finish draining off the ship's power cells. Once the power is gone, the organic structure will begin to decay immediately. I figure that within a few months, there will be nothing left of...any of this."

"It won't make anything above collapse, will it?" Amanda asked nervously.

"No, of course not." The Doctor paused for a moment clearly considering the possibility, then continued more confidently. "Absolutely not. The rock above is thick enough that it won't make any difference. It will just leave a sizable cavern here. Now head on out. I shouldn't be more than a couple of minutes."

Amanda still hesitated. "What you're doing isn't dangerous, is it?"

The Doctor pushed his hair back. "Not really. But once the power starts failing, I'll need to move relatively quickly to get out before the doors fail. It will just be easier if I'm the only one left inside. Now off you go."

"Yes, come along, my dears," Lady Witherspoon said. "Let the Doctor finish this." She started for the door again. 

Rory put his arm around Amy. While the drug seemed to be wearing off more quickly, she was still a little unsteady on her feet. She leaned into him as they followed behind Lady Witherspoon. Amanda looked nervously at the Doctor. She still wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave the Doctor on his own, even though she knew it would be easier for him to get out by himself. So, reluctantly, she joined the others as they left the ship.


	9. Chapter IX

"Did I dream it, or did you really hit him with a bag of marbles?" Amy asked Rory. She was leaning against him affectionately.

"I didn't plan it, but everything else seemed... attached and too squishy."

"Well, that was very brave of you. A bit insane, but definitely heroic." Amy kissed his cheek in a not exactly platonic way.

Amanda stood aside and tried dusting off her clothes, as she watched the door to the ship nervously. She looked over at Lady Witherspoon. "So all that nosiness about the photo scandal was about trying to find out what I was doing here?" she asked.

"Not entirely. I really am a nosy old biddy, as they say," Lady Witherspoon said with a smile. "But I did have to wonder at the setup. Ralph thought you were harmless, but he's a ridiculously trusting sort when it comes to women, as you've found out, I'm sure. And it wasn't always me you were talking to. I wasn't at last night's party, and as I'm sure you've realized I went to the ship directly after leaving you and Mr. Stetson earlier. Things seemed to be about to start hopping, and Hrist wanted to be on the scene despite her health." Lady Witherspoon sighed. "I'm going to miss her. It really was quite fun helping her out and actually quite restful when she took my place. I didn't have to stay in the body print thing for long for it to work. My family's shared the secret with the Bromfields for a long time. I love a good secret, don't you?"

Amanda shook her head incredulously. Of all the things that happened this seemed the most strange to her. When the Doctor exited the ship a moment later, it almost seemed anti-climactic. There was only a strangely drawn out hiss as the door closed behind the Doctor and then a sudden silence. 

"See, no problem," the Doctor said, wiping a mysterious black smudge off of one of his hands.

"So it's all over?" Amanda asked.

"All over."

Lady Witherspoon sighed. "I need to find Ralph and let him know. This has been a family trust for some time." She looked at Amanda. "I'm sure I'll see you later, my dear. Good-bye, Doctor. Rory and Amy." Turning, she headed away from the group at a quick pace.

"Right," the Doctor clapped his hands together. "I guess we should make our own way back to the house, observe a few of the social niceties before we depart."

"Come on, Doctor Williams." Amy grabbed Rory by the hand and tugged him along. "I want to see some of those secret passages."

"Oh...uh...sure," Rory mumbled uncertainly.

"Are we going to have to leave soon, Doctor?" Amy asked.

"No particular hurry. Why?"

A large grin spread across her face and she cast a sly glance at Rory. "Just wondering." She looked back at the Doctor. "We'll see you back at the TARDIS later then." She and Rory disappeared down one of the passageways.

The Doctor shrugged slightly. "Well, Amanda, I guess that just leaves you and me."

"Can you get us out of here?" Amanda asked, as she finished dusting off her jacket.

"Of course, I can get us out of here," the Doctor said. "My sense of direction is impeccable." He lifted a finger in the air as if testing for wind. "We go this way."

Amanda followed him in a direction that she was sure was away from the house. A suspicion that proved correct when they ended up taking the ladder up into the center of the maze. But then again, he did get them out of there quickly to a place she recognized. 

As Amanda and the Doctor emerged from the maze, she could see police cars and people standing in front of the Hall. Straining her eyes, she could just see Lee near one of the cars talking to what might have been Inspector Keaton. It seemed so long since she'd left Lee to go back to the library; it was a shock when she realized that it had been just over an hour. She stopped uncertainly. It was time to get back to her other secret life.

Turning to the Doctor, she said, "Well, I guess this is where we say good-bye."

The Doctor stared at her a moment. "I suppose," he said thoughtfully, "unless you'd like to see the TARDIS first."

Amanda's eyes lit up. "I never thought you'd ask," she said enthusiastically. She glanced back to where Lee was for a moment, and then grabbed the Doctor's hand and started for the Hall moving in the opposite direction from where Lee stood. This would probably be her only chance to see the Doctor's legendary time machine, and she wasn't about to miss it. 

They made their way to the wine cellars without anyone seeing them. Everyone seemed caught up in the drama outside the house. Amanda stared at the big blue box in the corner as the Doctor unlocked the door. It seemed so ordinary and so extraordinary at the same time. 

The Doctor pushed the door open with a grin and stepped inside. Amanda followed him in with trepidation. The control room was enormous, much larger than she expected it to be from Sarah Jane's description. She looked around in amazement. Walking around the console, she took in all the oddities. It seemed to be made out of a bunch of odds and ends. She wondered what the push bell was for. There was a typewriter and a computer keyboard, and levers and switches she didn't want to get anywhere near for fear of setting something off. There were so many things that she wanted to ask about, but wasn't sure where to begin.

"Well?" the Doctor asked.

"Why only two seats?" she finally blurted out almost randomly.

The Doctor laughed. "Well, to be honest, I don't know; the old girl renovated herself this time. And of all things, I didn't expect that question."

"What did you expect?"

"The usual: it's bigger on the inside. Though now that I think of it, Rory skipped that one, too. I hope it's not a trend. I do love that reaction."

"Well, I knew it would be bigger on the inside. Sarah Jane told me. I didn't expect the console room to be quite this big though. So it is bigger than I expected." She looked at the stairs leading out of the room. "Is it really infinitely large or just ridiculously large?" she asked.

Looking around happily, the Doctor said, "I'd say ridiculously large and infinitely changeable."

Amanda leaned back against a rail. This really was amazing. She wished she could take some time to explore it but knew that she needed to get back to Lee. Sighing, she said, "Your TARDIS is really more wonderful than I ever expected it to be, but now I do have to get back to my other secret life. I'll never forget this though."

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair. "You know," he said, leaning forward, "you could come with us. One trip and you could be back here five minutes from now."

Oh, that was tempting— a chance to see the universe and be back before anyone knew she'd gone.

"You know, both Amy and Rory like you. We could all have fun," the Doctor continued persuasively.

At the mention of Amy, Amanda was reminded just a bit too readily just how unreliable the Doctor's sense of timing could be. And that was the fly in the ointment. "Oh, Doctor, I wish I could. I really do," Amanda said. "But I have two boys at home, and how could I explain it to them if I left for a five minute trip and came back ten years later, not having aged a day?"

"Oh, I wouldn't do that."

"Not on purpose, but can you honestly say that you can control when you land consistently? I mean you dropped Sarah Jane off in Aberdeen, and with Amy a five minute trip took twelve years. I know my life isn't exactly hazard free now, but I think that would be a lot harder to justify."

"I've gotten better about it now," the Doctor insisted.

Amanda sighed again. "I still better not." She cheered up as a thought occurred to her. "Do you have a pen and paper?" she asked.

"Uh, I think so," the Doctor said as he patted his pockets before pulling out a small notebook and a pen. 

Amanda took them from him and quickly wrote on one of the pages before handing it back to him. "Here's my name and address and phone number and the date we met. If you're ever in the Washington D.C. area at the right time, look me up, okay? I would love to meet you again no matter the reason. And maybe if you can get your timing fixed, I can take that trip with you."

The Doctor glanced at the page before slipping the notebook back into his pocket; he looked a bit like a disappointed puppy. Amanda knew it was unlikely that she'd ever see him again, but she could always hope. She gave him a hug. "Say hi to Sarah Jane for me the next time you see her."

The Doctor brightened a bit. "I will. I still have to find out what you two got up to when you met."

Amanda smiled. "Remember if she doesn't tell you, I will the next time we meet."

"That's a good way to guarantee a future visit."

"Glad to hear it. Good-bye, Doctor." Amanda headed for the door.

"Until we meet again, Amanda King," the Doctor replied as she left. 

Amanda started to head out of the cellar when she saw Amy and Rory heading towards her, arm in arm and giggling. 

"I'm glad to see you looking better, Amy," Amanda said when she reached them.

Amy glanced at Rory with a grin. "Definitely feeling better, now that whatever that drug thing was has cleared out. Is the Doctor in the TARDIS?"

"Yes, I've already said good-bye to him, and now I'm heading back to my official unofficial job," Amanda said brightly. "I hope you two enjoy wherever the TARDIS takes you next."

Amy looked at Amanda speculatively. "You know, you could take a trip with us. I'm sure the Doctor could get you back here pretty quickly; he has gotten better about it. Wouldn't that be fun, Rory?"

"The more the merrier," Rory said.

"Oh, the Doctor already offered, and well, I've got two boys waiting at home, so I don't think I'd better take the chance. So I guess I need to say good-bye to you now too. I do hope we get to meet again sometime. Maybe without the deadly danger."

"I'd like that," Rory said sincerely.

"Me too," Amy added. "But at least the parties were good. And take care with your spy stuff."

"I will. I've got a good partner, and now I need to get back to him and hope he doesn't have too many questions."

Amy and Rory started back to the TARDIS. Amanda waved at them as they entered. The pair waved back, and the door shut. A few moments later, Amanda heard a wheezing, groaning sound and watched in amazement as the TARDIS dematerialized leaving an empty space where it once stood. On the wall, behind where it stood was a curious crack which seemed to be lit from within. Could this be the crack that Amy had mentioned? And did it have something to do with the TARDIS, or was it following the TARDIS? While one part of her wanted to go forward to examine it, another part even more strongly held her back, and as she stood there indecisively, the crack disappeared even more quickly than the time machine.

Amazed and bewildered, Amanda made her way back to the front of the Hall. Despite all that had happened, she felt strangely giddy. She sobered a little when she saw Lord Bromfield, who was standing apart from the crowd gathered in front. He was staring after Lady Witherspoon who was walking away from him towards a small group.

Approaching him, Amanda asked gently and cautiously, "Did she tell you?"

He nodded briefly.

"I'm so sorry, Lord Bromfield. I know you've been protecting her for a long time," she said sympathetically.

His expression was firmly controlled and tight. "Thank you, Mrs. King," he said in clipped tones. "We knew this day was coming, but I'd hoped it would have been more peaceful for her." He stopped and then looked at her with concern. "I hope you're not suffering any ill effects from what happened today. You've been through rather a lot yourself, dealing with two sets of villains."

Amanda blushed a little. "Well, Mr. Stetson really dealt with the spies, and I was mostly just along for the ride with the... other event." She looked around and saw Lee staring at her with an impatient expression. "And speaking of Mr. Stetson..."

"Yes, I won't keep you any longer," Lord Bromfield said. "But I do thank you for what you did. It was more than kind of you. You are an extraordinary woman, Mrs. King."

Blushing more and rendered speechless, Amanda ducked her head in embarrassment before turning to cross over to where Lee was standing. The strangely giddy feeling from earlier seemed to return to her as she walked up to Lee.

His gaze swept up and down over Amanda, making her acutely aware that she was still noticeably more dusty than she'd been the last time he'd seen her, despite her attempts to dust herself off. "Where have you been?" he asked curtly.

Amanda looked him in the eyes. Was he actually annoyed that she'd done what he told her to do? Oh, he did not get to do that. "Does it matter? I stayed out of it like you told me to."

"Well, I did manage to catch them on my own, so I guess I was right there," he said smugly, in a way that Amanda knew was meant to sting but for some reason didn't.

"That's good then," she replied. "Just don't count on me doing that too often."

Lee looked surprised and then with an elaborately casual manner that didn't fool her at all, said, "I saw you with your friend 'the Doctor' earlier. You were heading to the house from the maze in quite a hurry."

"Were we?" Amanda asked almost absently. Now that it was all over, the worries she had about Lee finding out seemed to have melted away into that strange giddy feeling. She really shouldn't feel as cheerful as she did or as unconcerned about what he might ask her.

"Yes. You were," Lee said, teeth clenched. "You want to tell me where you went?"

Amanda almost giggled as she answered truthfully, "Not really, no."

"Oh, and why not?" he asked.

"It's not important," Amanda replied. 

"Not important?" Lee looked irritated and skeptical.

Amanda looked at him and shrugged slightly. "Well, it didn't have anything to do with the job we're— you're— on. It was just personal."

"Personal?" Lee's voice rose a little. "How personal?"

"What?" Amanda asked, surprised at Lee's tone. He sounded jealous. Why in the world would he sound jealous? It was the _Doctor_ , after all. What would make him think...? _Oh my gosh,_ Amanda thought as she realized what Lee might have been thinking the night before. That explained his questions about what she and the Doctor had been doing as well as his other odd behavior. She'd been so worried about him finding out what she'd really been doing, that she'd never considered how it might look. And while she somehow thought she should feel insulted by the implication, she wasn't. Maybe it was just the relief that everything had ended well: Lee had captured his bad guys, the Doctor and his companions were on their way, and her life was safely compartmentalized again. She smiled at him. "Oh, Lee, sometimes, personal is just personal."

He seemed taken aback by her refusal to answer his question. "Oh, then maybe I'll just ask your 'friend' instead."

_It would be a miracle if you could find him_ , Amanda thought, before saying, "That might be a problem since he and Rory and Amy have already left for parts unknown."

"I see." He smiled then, though he looked puzzled as well. "You don't seem too disappointed."

"I'm not," she said. "The Doctor's very unpredictable. I'm just glad I got the chance to meet him this once." She smiled reminiscently.

He stared at her for a long moment. "Why do I get the impression that you're keeping something important from me?"

Amanda shrugged her shoulders and said lightly, "I really couldn't say why, Lee. It's probably because you're a spy— I mean, intelligence agent. Isn't it part of the job description?"

"I suppose," he said slowly and then looking at her, continued in a mock serious style. "You know, Mrs. King, there are ways of making you talk."

She grinned. "Oh, Mr. Stetson, getting me to talk isn't the problem; it's getting me to tell you what you want to know that will be the challenge."

He raised an eyebrow. "I think I'm up to the challenge," he said slyly. "I just don't know why you're being so mysterious."

Amanda's smile grew broader; she'd been waiting a long time to be able to say this to Lee, and this might be her only chance. "Because on a need to know basis, you don't need to know."

* * *

After the TARDIS dematerialized, Amy had gone off to take a bath, leaving the two men alone in the console room together.

"So," Rory started, "she turned you down?"

The Doctor lifted his eyes from the console, "Huh?"

"Amy and I saw Amanda on our way in. She told us you asked her to come, but she decided not to."

"Well," the Doctor said, clearly trying to mask his disappointment, "she has a family waiting for her back in America and more than enough excitement, I'm sure. Still, I must say Rory that you made quite an impression on her."

"Me?" Rory asked incredulously. "You're the one who really impressed her. I'm afraid I could never compete with a Time Lord."

The Doctor smiled broadly. "And I could never compete with your right hook."

* * *

Amanda had been glad to escape the flurry of photographers and get back to London. Things with Lee had gotten back to normal. He'd dropped all mention of the Doctor in favor of wrapping up the case, especially with Amanda prompting him to tell her all about how he'd captured the two traitors. She was also pleased that Lord Bromfield and his wife seemed to be working out their problems. And hopefully, the press would focus more on the genuine espionage aspects than a nonexistent affair. At least she wasn't going to be stuck in England for an extended period of time.

They arrived back at the hotel in the early afternoon. Lee escorted Amanda to the lobby.

"Look, I've got to go finish the debriefing," he said. "We can meet here for dinner later."

Amanda was about to protest, when she caught sight of someone very familiar sitting in a chair across the room, giving her a small wave before leaning back behind a magazine. Changing her mind, Amanda said, "That's fine. When do you want to meet for dinner?"

"Around eight?" Lee said, looking around the lobby for a moment.

"That's good. It gives me time to do a little shopping or something," Amanda replied, after glancing at her watch.

Lee gave her a stern look. "Try to stay out of trouble this time."

"Oh, well, I think I've hit the upper limits of the trouble I can get into this trip. So I'll see you later."

"All right." Lee sounded more than a little skeptical. "I'll see you at eight. We'll eat here in the hotel, okay?"

"Okay," Amanda said encouragingly. "Till then."

Lee gave her one more suspicious look before heading out the door. Amanda watched him leave before crossing the room to the person in the chair who put away her magazine. 

"All clear?" the dark haired woman asked, standing up.

"All clear," Amanda replied, giving her a hug. "Sarah Jane, when did you get back?"

"About two hours ago, and I must admit I'm dying to hear about what happened at Bromfield Hall."

"Oh, and I'd love to tell you," Amanda replied. "But I'm not sure what I can."

Sarah Jane smiled at her. "Well, come and have tea with me, and we'll see what I can worm out of you. After all, I haven't been a reporter for nothing." She glanced out the door. "Besides, I see our ride is here, and I'm sure he wants to know as much as I do."

Amanda looked outside and saw a long black car. The back window was down, and she could see the Brigadier inside. "Oh, that's different," she said, moving towards the door. "Especially if I finally get to meet the infamous K-9."

"I think that can be arranged," Sarah Jane replied, following her outside.

A man got out of the car and opened the door. "Good afternoon, ladies," the Brigadier said. "Are you ready?"

"Absolutely," Amanda replied, as they entered the car and drove off together for an afternoon of tea and stories.

THE END


End file.
